Sandhill Crane

[Doug Brown]

Things are definitely shaping up at the Bosque! I just got back yesterday after co-leading a workshop. The last 3 mornings were excellent, with great action at the Crane pools in the morning. Here's an image from yesterday morning; the temperature was under 20 degrees but the light and wind direction were perfect.

http://birdwhisperer.smugmug.com/Animals/Birds/BPN/20091118-MG1778-Sandhill-Crane/717648296_HKGbi-O.jpg

Canon 7D, 500mm, f/7.1, 1/1250, ISO 400, manual exposure, hand held

[Axel Hildebrandt]

I like the wing position, light and BG and would sharpen the bird more.

[Doug Brown]

I like the wing position, light and BG and would sharpen the bird more.

It looks pretty sharp on my monitor Axel. What exactly looks soft to you?

[Axel Hildebrandt]

There seems to be a lack of fine detail in the plumage, particularly body and wings.

[Mike Tracy]

There seems to be a lack of fine detail in the plumage, particularly body and wings.

FWIW I concur. I also could see increasing the contrast on the crane itself just a smidge.

I like the seasonal colors of the background, placement in the frame and wing position.

[Doug Brown]

Thanks. I reviewed the file and I think the focus is correct. The sun angle isn't creating any shadows in the plumage; maybe that's why it doesn't look sharp to you. Anyhow, I appreciate the input!

[Dave Blinder]

Beautiful capture Doug, great HA, BG, and exposure. The bird's right wing does appear slightly sharper than its left wing. Not a big deal, but perhaps that's what the other guys are seeing.

[david cramer]

A beautiful capture Doug. Nice pose and head angle.

I have found it difficult to get great detail in the Sandhill's feathering, particularly with full body shots in very early or late softer light. The gray coloring is very uniform on their bodies, so you have to concentrate on the wings where there is more mottling to work with. I think another round of smart sharpen and selective contrast enhancement would bring out a bit more definition, but it does show a slight amount of noise in the wings darker areas. My take:

http://davidcramer.smugmug.com/photos/718041857_zAjky-O.jpg

[Marina Scarr]

Lovely capture. The repost looks good David.

[Bonnie Block]

Great image, Doug---the repost does look better to me.
Super light. Hold my place! I'll be there soon!

[Stu Bowie]

Lovely flying posture Doug, with good light and exposure throughout. The crane pops so well from the BG. Well captured.

[Fabs Forns]

Very nice capture, I like the repost.

[Tony Whitehead]

Great light and wing position. Focus looks fine. The little extra sharpening for web looks good. Sounds like a great place - will have to try and get there some day.

[arash_hazeghi]

Beautiful Doug, love the BG and wing pos. Plumage detail is excellent and repost looks better on my screen.

[Terry Olmsted]

I was ready to come to your defense, Doug, but the repost does look better to me. Wonderful image in any case!! Hope to get down there some day :)

[Doug Brown]

I agree that the repost looks better (thanks David), but I'll also say that I've got many thousands of Crane images and the body almost never has any fine detail. It's just the way the plumage looks.

[Kiran Poonacha]

Beautiful image Doug Bhai, the repost looks good, nice details, pose and BG. how would you rate the 7D with the mark 3 as you have used both.

[Doug Brown]

Thanks Kiran! Both are very good bodies. AF on the 7D is every bit as good as on the Mark III. Images are noisier on the 7D, but the noise is usually easy to remove. I like the new features on the 7D (faster frame rate, better image detail, weatherproofing, brighter/100% viewfinder, remote flash control, etc.).

But I have to pick the Mark III for image quality and overall build quality. I'm really looking forward to the Mark IV, which I have on preorder. I suspect that the 7D will get demoted to second body once the Mark IV arrives.