Falcon - Bosque del Apache

[Sara Cole]

I am new to the BPN Forum and somewhat new to the digital photography world as well. Having grown up with my mother being a professional photographer, I received hands-on education in darkroom & studio work. Although that experience has helped me transition into digital, I have a lot to learn especially where processing is concerned.

The falcon was just one of many raptors we found in the Bosque del Apache Wildlife Refuge a couple weeks ago. It's rare to find them just hanging out by the side of a road and this one was a quick catch before he took off. Taking the advice of some other threads posted on this site, I cloned out a thick branch piece that looked like it was sticking out of the falcon's side. This shot has minimal sharpening as the original crop had the falcon much further away.

1/500 @ 10 - ISO 250

[Alfred Forns]

HI Sara !!!! Big Welcome !!!! With your bg digital will be easy to work into !!!!

The first thing you want to take advantage is histogram Will tell you all you need for the best exposure Make sure you get data to the right with out going over Most cameras have a highlight warming If you see the blinkies you have gone over Not enough to the right and noise will be introduced at the time of processing

With any heavy crop you will loose detail Just like in film You did well placing the bird toward a corner I think bottom right would have been better but don't mind the bird looking out of the frame Would also work on the other branches since they compete with the bird Can also do some work increasing local contrast in the feathers Again with a large crop is a bit difficult Looking forward to many more !!!!!!!!

Next time post the other tech info Will be easier to see what you were doing !!!!

[Judd Patterson]

Welcome Sara! Beautiful bird and I'm glad that you were able to create an image before it flew away. I agree with Alfred that a stronger composition would have been to place the bird on the right side of the image. I hope that maybe you will get a future opportunity where you won't have to crop as much! Thanks for sharing, and hope to see more as you get going in digital photography.

[Sara Cole]

Alfred and Judd, thank you both for your replies. I appreciate the input and suggestions. Will definitely study the histogram portion of my program.

Sara