The stare - Bonelli's Eagle Hieraaetus fasciatus

[Dr.Pranay Rao Juvvadi]

Canon 1D MIII with Sigma 500 f/4.5, Handheld.

EXIF: 1/1600, f/6.3, Aperture Priority, Evaluative Metering, ISO 400, -2/3 EC.

Saw a pair of these take down a Black-naped Hare one evening. This is a picture of the male while feeding on the hare.
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[Axel Hildebrandt]

Cool pose, stare and BG. How did you sharpen this image? It looks a bit oversharpened at the edges but there also seems to be a lack of details, maybe due to noise reduction?

[Brian Barcelos]

I also agree with Axel on the sharpness issue. I love that stare and the blood around the beak add a lot to this image, He looks sinister. Congrats.

Brian

[Dr.Pranay Rao Juvvadi]

Axel, I first applied NI on the whole image, sized it for the web and then applied USM (amount 100%, Radius 0.5 and Threshold 0).

[Ramon M. Casares]

Agree that it looks way oversharpned, but light, pose, detail, powerfull stare, colors and comp are amazing IMO.
Congratulatons!

[Axel Hildebrandt]

Axel, I first applied NI on the whole image, sized it for the web and then applied USM (amount 100%, Radius 0.5 and Threshold 0).

I would try to use NR on the background only. The Mark III is almost noise-free at ISO 400 if it is not cropped too much. Maybe you could try sharpening at radius 0.3.

[Dr.Pranay Rao Juvvadi]

I reduced the sharpening and removed the contrast boost. How does it look now?

[David Fletcher]

Agree about the sharpening and would also suggest re-sizing first before applying nr on bg, as the resize often reduces the effect of noise anyway. (granted it's easier to do on a full size image, but usually, i find it not nec').

This portrait does have impact and wonderful eye contact and well worth a bit of TLC. (edit... as just seen re-post. Sharpness better, but same issue re nr, ;)

[Dr.Pranay Rao Juvvadi]

I would try to use NR on the background only. The Mark III is almost noise-free at ISO 400 if it is not cropped too much. Maybe you could try sharpening at radius 0.3.

Thanks a lot Axel. How do I apply NR only on the BG? I use the demo version of NI. This is about 60-70 of FF. In the repost I used 0.2 radius.



This portrait does have impact and wonderful eye contact and well worth a bit of TLC.


Thanks a lot David for the advise. I'm not sure what TLC stands for.<!-- / message -->

[Axel Hildebrandt]

I'm not sure what NI stands for. Here is a great tutorial how to sharpen and use NR on the BG only: http://www.birdphotographers.net/forums/showthread.php?t=6040

The repost looks better!

[Fabs Forns]

Repost looks terrific. Love the unusual pose and eye contact. Well done!

[Dr.Pranay Rao Juvvadi]

Sorry for the abbreviation Axel, NI is Neat Image. Thanks a lot for the link.

[Ray Rozema]

:)FYI Note the unequal pupil sizes. Our pupils are always equal in size ( in the absence of neurologic problems) ,even if light exposure is unequal to the two eyes. But this is not true for birds.

[Wayne Wood]

really nice intense stare, I would have been thrilled to be this close to a predator with its prey. I hope you get the PP figured out

[Art Kornienko]

I agree the repost is very nice, maybe just a touch more lightening.

[Kiran Poonacha]

Lovely Image Dr. loved the Head on pose, the repost looks much better. you could lighten it a bit though... still loved this.. congrats..

[Morkel Erasmus]

love the stare and the pupil sizes. agree on original issues but repost does look better, although I think with the correct application of the techniques this could be even better. great sighting!

[Stu Bowie]

Superb eye contact, and love the pose. Great advice passed above, so Im adding my great sighting, and well captured.