Long-billed Curlew

[Luis Villablanca]

This was shot this morning at the Palo Alto Baylands. The curlew came flying fast and it barely gave me time to lift the lens and aim.
The top edge of the right wing was slightly clipped and I had to reconstruct it and add some canvas. I hope the repairs are not so obvious.

http://luisv.smugmug.com/photos/808299978_9ydqs-O.jpg

Canon 7D, 500L + 1.4x TC, handheld, manual exposure, 1/2000s, f/8, ISO 800.

C&C are welcome,
--
Luis

[arash_hazeghi]

Very nice Luis, good catch, these guys fly fast, BG is nice and details are good. How much of a crop is this?

Sorry I missed you this morning, had to work until late in the lab!!! Looks like I missed a lot. Hopefully next time.

See you,

Arash

[Karl Seddon]

Hi Luis
I cant see any evidence of the wing-tip reconstruction, but the focus looks a tiny bit soft around the ear covert on my monitor - still - Such a well lit, otherwise well defined & lovely capture.

[Scott Frye]

Nice BIF shot -- wings fully extended and head separate from the body. Not sure if thats a drop of water or something else on the tip of his beak. Problem is now that I have seen it -- my eyes wander to it. If it were mine I would probably stamp it out

[Stu Bowie]

Super flying posture, and I like the light and colours. Good job on the repair, and what a lovely BG too.

[Dave Leroy]

Good for you to react so quickly and get a dandy shot.
I can't see any evidence of the recon. work.
I like the dof and exposure. Excellent wing position.

[Danny Laredo]

Sweet image Luis. Love the light and flight pose.

[Fabs Forns]

Great task you got here, they are difficult to come across in land, so get him in flight seems like a big accomplishment to me. PS work look decent, wouldn't have know if not mentioned.
As I'm getting older I'm becoming more reluctant to adding wings pieces, and more accepting of cut wings.
Good job, anyway.

[Steve Maxson]

Excellent pose, great light, and a beautiful background. Good job on the PS work. I would only wish for a little more room on the left for it to fly into - would be easy to add canvas with this background. Well done.

[Luis Villablanca]

Hi Arash,

Too bad you couldn't make it yesterday. The morning light was great and there were good numbers of shore birds in the slough.

I'd say it's a 70% crop. For reference, here is the unprocessed photo:
http://luisv.smugmug.com/photos/808402038_gCc7z-L.jpg

Regards,
--
Luis


Very nice Luis, good catch, these guys fly fast, BG is nice and details are good. How much of a crop is this?

Sorry I missed you this morning, had to work until late in the lab!!! Looks like I missed a lot. Hopefully next time.

See you,

Arash

[Luis Villablanca]

Thanks all for the input!

Fabs, we are fortunate to get curlews here in the spring.
This is the first time I've had one fly by so close, though.

Karl, yes the image is not tack sharp. This morning I played with it a little more and I think it could take some more sharpening. Here is a 100% crop if you are interested:
http://luisv.smugmug.com/photos/808402736_qSync-O.jpg

[arash_hazeghi]

Hi Arash,

Too bad you couldn't make it yesterday. The morning light was great and there were good numbers of shore birds in the slough.

I'd say it's a 70% crop. For reference, here is the unprocessed photo:


Regards,
--
Luis


Thanks Luis, looking forward to next time, BTW, sharpness is very good for flight shot :)

Have a good weekend.

[Kaustubh Deshpande]

Luis, I think the sharpness is very good too. The pose and the orientation of the bird w.r.t camera is perfect. Great light too. Well done on all counts.

[Ofer Levy]

Excellent shot!! Just a slight adjustment in levels and contrast.
Cheers,
Ofer

[Karl Seddon]

Thankyou Luis - interesting to see @ 100% crop.
Its a standout image in my book + Ofer's repost suggestion looks strong too

Karl

[Dominic Cantin]

An excellent image with excellent PP and a realy nice suggestion by Ofer ! For me , it's a very sharp in flight shot ! Congrats Luis !

[Luis Villablanca]

Excellent shot!! Just a slight adjustment in levels and contrast.
Cheers,
Ofer

Thanks for the suggestions and the repost, Ofer.