Eagle - Year 9

[Kim Rollins]

In 2001 I went out on no particular day in Jan. and got to shoot an eagle on this perch. Same thing in 2002 through 2008, on a day in Jan. I went out and there was an eagle on the same perch and it set for me. I have no way of knowing if it was the same eagle but this year I failed to go out there in Jan. March came around and I finally made it out there and ...

Did I make the eagle wait for me for two months? LOL There is was setting there just like he had been waiting for me.
http://www.pbase.com/kwr_01/image/110297048/original.jpg

OLYMPUS E-3 708 mm
Exposer 1/250 sec f/8.9 ISO 200
Metering Mode center weighted (2)
Exposure Program manual (1)

[Ákos Lumnitzer]

Hi Kim,
This fellow has a powerful stare indeed! Like the pose. Ther perch is a little overpowering, but the story is neat for me. I would clone the cable in the bottom LC for sure, and crop tighter at the top. Not sure whether removing the couple of poking out feathers behind the perch is a good or bad idea. See what you think. :) THanks for posting.

[Kim Rollins]

Hi Kim,
This fellow has a powerful stare indeed! Like the pose. Ther perch is a little overpowering, but the story is neat for me. I would clone the cable in the bottom LC for sure, and crop tighter at the top. Not sure whether removing the couple of poking out feathers behind the perch is a good or bad idea. See what you think. :) THanks for posting.



The trouble with eagle perches around here is more often then not they are power poles, etc. as this is high desert and there are not may natural perches such as large trees for them here.

Took some of your advice to heart and cable is now gone, some taken from top to & with that I added a bit of space to the left. (swapped the image out in gallery too - 'refresh cookie' may be requiered to see it)

Thanks for the honest critique Ákos.

[Randy Stout]

Kim:

I find that its helpful to the forum, to leave the original image up, and just repost the revised image, so people can see the progression of tweaks and changes.

An intense stare for sure. There seems to be some loss of detail/defintion on the top of the head. The perch is a tough one because of its dominance in the frame. You have to work with what you have!

Thanks for posting!

Randy

[Kim Rollins]

Kim:

I find that its helpful to the forum, to leave the original image up, and just repost the revised image, so people can see the progression of tweaks and changes.

An intense stare for sure. There seems to be some loss of detail/defintion on the top of the head. The perch is a tough one because of its dominance in the frame. You have to work with what you have!

Thanks for posting!

Randy

Randy -
There certainly may be some loss at top of head but I would expect that as it was shot late morning (11:00) and the sun was high in the sky. I was pleased with it and that greater loss did not occur.

I guess on this one a because of the perch one could go with a more centered composition and tighter crop. Usually I do no care for centered comp. but in this case - maybe. What do you think?

Thanks for your comments
http://upload.pbase.com/image/110862846/original.jpg

[Randy Stout]

Kim:

I think this is an improvement over the original. The sky showing in the LRC, and the few feathers, didn't add anything, IMO, and made the perch seem even more massive. I believe this is a better compromise, makes the most of your image.
The improvement from downplaying the perch exceeds the issues with centering of the image.

Always a juggling act! Which is part of the fun!

Randy

[Arthur Morris]

I am no fan of power poles but I do like it better with the tail in the frame.

The color balance is way off, and the sharpness and image quality are poor.

Please tell us about your equipment as most here are not at all familiar with it (and that includes me).

[Kim Rollins]

I am no fan of power poles but I do like it better with the tail in the frame.

The color balance is way off, and the sharpness and image quality are poor.

Please tell us about your equipment as most here are not at all familiar with it (and that includes me).

Arthur -
Thanks for dropping by and for your comments. If I can get enough people critiquing maybe, just maybe, I may learn something. By this thread it seems I am learning 'to pay better attention before original postings'. :p

Granted sharpness and image quality are poor and for several reasons as I had the image posted;
the light was not from in front of this bird but high and to the right,
I had a dead rest on vehicle I am sure both the eagle and my vehicle were moving some as the wind was gusting & whipping, the bird is not leaning forward getting ready to launch. It is trying to keep from getting blown clear off the perch,
and then last but not least and after looking yet again at the image I could have done a much better job of some sharpening in post had I been paying better attention to my own work.
That said and maybe just maybe my old brain has kicked in a bit, here it is yet again but with some added sharpening (two parts USM, light and dark with some masking).
Please do let me know what you think.
http://www.pbase.com/kwr_01/image/110872211/original.jpg

Arthur, I did not understand this part of your critique - "The color balance is way off..."
I ask for an explanation because I wish to learn. I am looking at it on NEC 2690WIXi Monitor (LCD) recently calibrated with Monaco Puck/ SpectraView II software and I do not see the "color balance as way off." Granted my Old Eye are not what they used to be, far from it, but I also look at and read the Luminosity/Color Histograms and do not see the color balance as being way off.
Please explain what you meant by -" "The color balance is way off" - How so and if so what recommendation do you have for correction?

Thank you again and in advance.

A screen shot of the image and histogram is shown below.


http://upload.pbase.com/image/110872521/original.jpg

[Kim Rollins]

Arthur -

You had asked about my equipment and I had forgotten to reply so here it is -

I am shooting for the most part with Olympus gear.
Camera Model E-3 usually but I have E-1s too.
Except for one Sigma 50-500mm f/4-6.3 EX DG HSM lens I use Zuiko Glass.

For this eagle image I had the Sigma on with an Oly 1.4 converter. The Sigma is not the glass the Zuikos are, not even close but the quality of the Sigma for the cost and the desire for more reach is why I went with it. I usually have to shoot manual focus with the Sigma or it tends to hunt.

I usually shoot off a Gizbo Tripod with an Acutrack GV2 Ball-head. The eagle image was not from a tripod though as the situation just did not allow the set up.

Though I have tried other software I have returned each time to Adobe and I now process with Adobe LR2 and/or CS4.

[Arthur Morris]

Thanks for the equipment info. Most of the folks here are not at all familiar with Olympus. The last repost is a nice improvement as it looks much sharper. The color balance was not off as much as I thought--it was a bit blue and needed a bit more green. There are dozens of ways to set the white and black points or to balance the color. The method that I use is called "Average Blur Color Balancing." It is fast and easy. If it over-does the correction, I simply reduce the effect with the Opacity slider.

All of the details (plus tons more) can be found in the BIRDS AS ART Digital Basics File. You can learn more here: http://www.birdsasart.com/digitalbasics.htm

ps: It is not the number of critiques that will help you learn but the quality of the critiques and the amount of time and effort that you are willing to devote to your photography.

[Kim Rollins]

Thanks and I will check out the link you gave.




ps: It is not the number of critiques that will help you learn but the quality of the critiques and the amount of time and effort that you are willing to devote to your photography.

Understood but I have a thick head so sometimes it might be best if a couple of guys gang up on me. ;) I appreciate quality critique as it helps me learn and this kind of critique is why I am here now, I am looking for it.
Thank again