THE PERCH

[Bill McCrystyn]

D300 200-400VR 1.4X ISO1600 F/5.6 1/400 BOAT HANDHELD

Thinking a birds gotta fly after several static poses I waited to take a blur shot (no choice) with the light that I had. Finally his wings moved, then up they went up as my camera did and off he went. Everything was moving except his eye fixed on the target. I caught him just a his talons were leaving the perch as he powered out with a couple of thrusts of that 6' wing span to take to the air. Usually I wouldn't crop this tight although it is near full frame but I wanted the full impact of departure. Obviously this image is better appreciated back 2-3 feet rather than the standard 12" pixel peeping distance. Brush compliments of Arkansas. :)

[Judy Lynn Malloch]

These are not easy images to capture and you did well with the timing. It appears quite noisy though and I am wondering if it was a big crop or perhaps a little under exposed as both of these factors will create noise. Many thanks for sharing Bill.

[Paul Wolf]

Bill:
This is a great capture of the action, and I really like how it gives the impression of power and speed due to the angle of the head. I agree with Judy on the noise, so I decided to see if I could salvage it. I used Neat Image on it and then selectively blurred the areas that still needed some noise reduction. I tried not to lose too much more detail, but since most of the image is blurred (and rightly so), I don't think a little loss of detail is objectionable.

I also adjusted the levels and curves because the image did seem a bit flat to me. After all that, I still had some lattitude to sharpen the eye and a little bit of the head even more without adding more noise. I used Focal Blade for that. Hope you don't mind the tweaks - just practice for me.

Paul

[Bill McCrystyn]

Wow!! Good lesson for me. Great job Paul. You got my problem child about as good as it could get. I had just got home and ready to start my rework for Judy and saw yours. I had a try at Geniuine Fractels and with 16 bit TIF files I found far, far to slow for my needs. After seeing your rework I would appreciate it if you could direct me to the programs you used. I am assuming they are plug-ins. BTW - your personal link pulled a "not found" for me from here??

Bill

[Paul Wolf]

Bill:
To fix noise issues, I either use Neat Image (www.neatimage.com (http://www.neatimage.com)), which is a plug-in, or I just do some blurring in PhotoShop. Sometimes, as was the case with your image, I use both. It depends on the image. I'm probably a bit more anal about noise than most - thanks to stock photography requirements.

For sharpening I use FocalBlade exclusively (www.thepluginsite.com (http://www.thepluginsite.com)), and I usually only sharpen what is necessary, such as the eye and side of the head in your case.

Thanks for the heads up on the link. Got to fix that!

Paul

[Bill McCrystyn]

Thanks Paul. Your link is working just fine. Maybe it was me?? Nice stuff by the way. Julie is gonna love you in the "bug" forum. :D You will find your not any more anal than most around here when it comes to sharp and noise, as it should be. I got sloppy with a difficult shot and got busted. :)

I'll be running down those links you gave me.

[Phil Ertel]

I love the action in this image. Good timing. Paul's repost is nice. I don't mid the tight crop but if you have it I would add a just enough room to include the feather tips of the birds right wing. I would eliminate the red object (leaf?) just above the wing that is a little above and left of center as it draws my attention.

[Bill McCrystyn]

Thanks Phil, I will be working on a repost and let you know when I've got it, now that, that Tex-as boy showed up the Arkie. I will consider your suggestions.

[Bill McCrystyn]

Thanks to everyone I have generated a rework from the original Tiff as best I could get it using conventional CS3 tools. I think it is an improvement by which you can directly compare to Paul Wolfs excellent job. I think everyone will see their suggestions taken resulting in a better image.

[Judy Lynn Malloch]

Thanks for your comments Bill and I really like the repost. The BG is much better and the detail in the osprey appears much more detailed and sharper. Well done !!