Mom Returns to the Nest Tree

[Jim Fenton]

Mom returns home to the nest tree in late light to switch off with dad for the night.

Image created this afternoon just before the sun dipped below the hill behind me.

Nikon D300s, 600VR, ISO 640, f6.3, 1/1250, CW metering, NearUniWB preset, +.7 EV compensation.

[Sid Garige]

Exceptional exposure control Jim. Fantastic pose perfectly captured. Great job.

[Steve Canuel]

Nice pose. I like the way the angle of the pine needles line up with the wings.

[Randy Stout]

Jim:

Sharp, beautifully exposed with good detail in darks, great pose.

Wish the perch was a bit prettier, but the pose really makes it.

Randy

[Jim Fenton]

Well...

Due to ice storms and a couple of near hurricanes this winter, the perch isn't going to get any prettier...and given that the nest is just below it and the to right, they are going to be using it a lot...so I'll live with it :)

[Jeff Cashdollar]

Exposure is spot-on, I can see all of the primaries and detail in white head. You nailed this one. Love the pose and vert frame - strong image.

[Grace Scalzo]

Love the light and the pose.

[Axel Hildebrandt]

Cool pose, good setting, light and sharpness. The whites look good, but the blacks are partially blocked.

[allanrube]

Great expression - caught peak action!! Excelling processing.

[Jim Fenton]

Axel...

if you can show me how to hold those highlights and not block the blacks...after already using a NearUniWB preset to expand the exposure...I'm all ears.

[arash_hazeghi]

Like the pose, sharpness, details and wing position, the bird is captured perfectly here. Perch is nice too except for the broken branch. Blacks are good on my screen, there is a small dark region covering part of the right foot plus small portion of the belly but it doesn't affect the overall quality of this image IMO. If you have CNX2 just put a color control point in that area and drag the brightness slider slightly to the right, should fix immediately.

[Mike Milicia]

Great pose and composition with excellent exposure and detail!

Seeing a bit of a halo around the bird, especially along the front.

[Jim Fenton]

Mike...

Thanks for picking up on that as it got right by me.

I erased all of my sharpening edges (done on a separate layer) and I'm not sure why this once carried through?

[Axel Hildebrandt]

Axel...

if you can show me how to hold those highlights and not block the blacks...after already using a NearUniWB preset to expand the exposure...I'm all ears.

If necessary, I use curves and the black slider in ACR to control the dark tones.

[Kaustubh Deshpande]

Jim, this is really good. I liked the perch. Pose is just superb. Not sure what can be done to improve...this one's a winner.