I am Turkey Vulture

[arash_hazeghi]

Meet Mr. Turkey Vulture banking to say hi!

http://www.stanford.edu/%7Eahazeghi/Photos/birds/my%20name%20is%20turkey%20vulture.jpg

7D + 500 f/4 + 1.4X TC f/8 1/1300sec ISO 400. SW: DPP 3.7, Digital processing: crop

Hope you like it.

[Axel Hildebrandt]

I like the wing position and eye contact. The positive EC helped with the underwing details. I might sharpen the wings and body more if it does not introduce noise.

[Stu Bowie]

Thats an impressive wingspread Arash. Lovely banking angle, with good eye contact. Well captured.

[James Shadle]

Arash,
What time of day did you make this image?
James

[Fabs Forns]

Way to go getting a sharp head, Arash, 7D did it for me too.

[Jackie Schuknecht]

Nice wing span and good sharpness Arash. They make good subjects because they usually get pretty close.

[arash_hazeghi]

Arash,
What time of day did you make this image?
James

Hi James,

About 3PM

Best,

[Doug Brown]

Nicely done Arash! The light helped you make the most of a challenging exposure.

[James Shadle]

I asked because the under wing detail is outstanding.

From my experience even with a bird banking, a lower sun angle makes a huge difference in wing detail on black birds. It also helps minimize shadows.

You nailed it.

[arash_hazeghi]

I asked because the under wing detail is outstanding.

From my experience even with a bird banking, a lower sun angle makes a huge difference in wing detail on black birds. It also helps minimize shadows.

You nailed it.

Exactly, TV under wings are super dark with soft feather there is hardly any detail unless there is direct sunlight. The top view has more details and color but they rarely fly low or when they bank with top side facing the camera the head is turned the other way so you get a head-less banking vulture :eek: I have lots of those :D It's tough to make an appealing photo out of a plain ugly-looking creature like these :D

Here is one top view I was lucky to get a bit of head turn

http://ari1982.smugmug.com/Animals/raptor/Avian/turkey-vulture/701984464_gTUn8-XL.jpg

This was with my Nikon gear.

[Jay Gould]

Arash - love the image. Manual, Tv, or Av?

Axel - where are you reading an EC (exposure compensation)?

[arash_hazeghi]

Arash - love the image. Manual, Tv, or Av?

Axel - where are you reading an EC (exposure compensation)?

Jay I use TV mode all the time, it is obvious that this exposure had +EC (+2EV in this case because bird is black) default metering in this case will underexpose the bird by at least 2 stops rendering the image useless :eek: for birds against plain sky you need between +1 to +2.5 EV with 7D depending on the angle of the light and color of the bird.

[Ofer Levy]

Nice image Arash. Nicely done.

[Jay Gould]

Jay I use TV mode all the time, it is obvious that this exposure had +EC (+2EV in this case because bird is black) default metering in this case will underexpose the bird by at least 2 stops rendering the image useless :eek: for birds against plain sky you need between +1 to +2.5 EV with 7D depending on the angle of the light and color of the bird.

:( Here we go again with "obvious". Why "obvious"?

I will turn this into a learning lesson - at least for me - since the only stupid question I do not ask is the one I should have asked.

Sorry, but some of us are still new - me going on one year - and when most post an image they indicate the extent of the EC.

You are shooting in Tv - that alone is an interesting discussion that arose after Chris' Ezine interview when he too said he shot in Tv. :cool:

Shoot in Tv; the camera is deciding the Av.

You indicate that the speed was 1/1300; of course there is no specific setting for 1/1300; it is either 1/1250 or 1/1600 or some other choice. How did it get to 1/1300?

When writing this I played with my 7D. I set it to Tv 1/1250 and initially pointing it at a dish antenna across the street - a dot in the sky compared to your bird - it gave me a reading of 1/1/250, f/14. I thing dialed in +2EC and it gave me a setting of 1/1250, f/7.1.

As a general question, if you are in either Tv or Av and you indicate a specific setting, when you apply EC shouldn't ONLY the noncontrolled setting change?

When you focus in on your subject, so long as you have not chosen C.Fn I, 6 - Safety shift or the exposure is such that a safety shift is unnecessary, shouldn't the SS set remain and the only thing that will change is the f/stop?

Based upon various discussions with Chas Glatzer I am now metering in partial metering most of the time rather than evaluative so as to meter more of the bird and less of the background.

To repeat to learn:

What is provided/indicated in the following that tells me that you applied +2 EC:


7D + 500 f/4 + 1.4X TC f/8 1/1300sec ISO 400. SW: DPP 3.7, Digital processing: crop


Thanks and I do like the image.

BTW, I wondered if using a program like Vivezia would open up the underside of the wings so I gave it a shot - the upper wing and body was brightened 15% and the lower wing 20% - the difference is subtle - what do you think?

[arash_hazeghi]

Hi Jay,

Sorry for the typo it is a 1/1250sec ;) in TV mode you pick the shutter speed and camera chooses the aperture, when you apply EC camera opens up or closes the aperture in order to apply the compensation you ask for. You can use AV/manual mode whichever you prefer and fee more comfortable with, there is no particular advantage or disadvantage. I don't use partial or spot metering, it might toast or severely underexpose the BG if you have dark/white bird, don't like it but again what mode you use is up to you as long as you get the exposure right:)

I did not mention I used EC, but as Axel, James, Doug and others quickly figured out, camera standard meter cannot correctly meter a scene like this as you experimented for yourself so I must have used EC.

Thanks for running the image through your program, I can't see a difference in exposure on my monitor but the details have become softer relative to the original-thanks anyways :) Looking forward to see your photos

Best,
Arash

[Jay Gould]

Whew! I spent a bit of time trying to figure out how you had 1/1300 and couldn't figure it out - now I know why!

Which details have become softer relative to the original? I only applied vivezia to the very dark portions of the body and wings.

I have a feeling that the resave in PS for Web resulted in the general softening of the jpeg.

[arash_hazeghi]

Whew! I spent a bit of time trying to figure out how you had 1/1300 and couldn't figure it out - now I know why!

Which details have become softer relative to the original? I only applied vivezia to the very dark portions of the body and wings.

I have a feeling that the resave in PS for Web resulted in the general softening of the jpeg.

Maybe it's the compression, the wing tips and under wing details look sharper in original. Thanks for edit.

Best