Cormorant Blur

[Indranil Sircar]

Today I decided to try few blur images and here is one from earlier in the evening... I was tracking this cormorant when it suddenly banked away fgiving this interesting wing motion. Settings were -

7D, Sigma 50-500mm @ 500mm handheld
1/15 sec, f/32 Mode: Tv Metering: Evaluative Exp comp: -1 ISO: 100 (auto)

For pp, i desaturated the blue bg. Applied usm on the final web version. Your c&c will be appreciated...

[denise ippolito]

Hey Indranil, I think you did a great job capturing this one. I like the way the wings look like they are flapping. I might like the face and eye a bit more defined. Nice framing:)

[Cheryl Slechta]

Indranil, I really like the way the wings look. Nice one:)

[Christopher Miller]

Very nice blur, Indranil. I really like the banking pose and the wing motion. A little more definition on the head would be nice as Denise mentioned, but I do like it just fine as is.

[Andrew McLachlan]

Indranil, the wings have blurred in this capture quite nicely and nice placement of the bird in the frame.

[Kerry Perkins]

Indranil, this is a different and interesting blur. Agree about a tad more definition, but you did well with the capture. For my eye, I would bring the mid tones up a bit with a levels adjustment to get more light in the scene.

[Paul Lagasi]

Indranil, very nice capture...like the beating wings capture, positioning in the frame...wish for a little more dtail in the face...TFS

[James Shadle]

Having a little experience at this (without VR or IS), it would be very difficult to get the head much sharper at 1/15 of a second.
Go with a faster shutter speed and you don't get the very cool range of wing motion.

Solution - get close and use 1/15 SS and flash on rear sync.

Tough image to capture, done about as well as possible with those variables.