Faster than a speeding bullet

[Dan Busby]

I finally found a place (at the west end of Lake Ontario) to try my hand at some BIF shooting. Although there are lots of waterfowl in the area, they are largely scattered over a wide area. But, with some patience, the odd bird will fly by close enough to provide an opportunity. These Bufflehead are among the flying bullets of the array of waterfowl, but I managed a few shots as this bird flew toward me and then past. It's about a 50% crop and I removed a partial female that was behind this bird. Otherwise just standard NR, curves and sharpening.

Canon 7D, EF500mm f/4L IS USM +1.4x, ISO:400, 5.6@1/2500, EC: +0.3, AP, AI Servo AF, evaluative metering.

C&C welcomed!
Dan

[Randy Stout]

Dan:
I applaud you for getting a buffle head in so close. Exposure generally good, perhaps a bit warm on the shoulder, would consider a light linear burn or multiply selection.

There is a noticeable sharpening halo around much of the bird, esp. the wings.

The face could use a touch more sharpening.

Surprising amount of noise in the darker areas. Did you have to bring this up in post?

Great wing position and angle in frame.

Cheers

Randy

[Aidan Briggs]

I can never seem to get close to these guys. Nice job on on the exposure and freezing the action. I agree with Randy on the noise in the wings. If it fits with your ethics, I might take a clone stamp at 50% opacity and soften some of those dark lines in the BG.

Keep them coming!

[Xavier Maessen]

Very nice picture. The level of detail is excellent. I do agree with the comments above about the exposure, the noise and the somewhat distracting lines in the background.

Xavier

[Dave Leroy]

I imagine that you will be back to this spot again.

Good for you to get a nice flight shot. Lots of good suggestions already given. I think a smaller crop would work as well.

Well done.

Dave

[Dan Busby]

Thanks for the comments everyone. I went back to the original and tried to address the comments. In the first post I had avoided NR on the bird. This time around I selectively did a mild NR on the bird and a slightly heavier NR on the BG. I don't know what caused the sharpening halo - it was a fairly gentle sharpening, but I re-did that as well. I hope this one looks better, although I don't think I did it differently (maybe I inadvertently did something in the first go around). I also reduced some of the dark patterns in the water. Thanks again.

[Ray Rozema]

Congrats on getting this guy in flight as stated they are fast. The repost does well to address the above observations and definite improvement Like droplets on the breast

[Ofer Levy]

Hi Dan,
This is a beautiful image! I see no problem in the original post - no hot whites and no sharpening halo. I do see a slight S/H halo but nothing serious. I much prefer the original with the nice marking in the water.
Cheers,
Ofer
http://www.oferlevyphotography.com

[Cody Covey]

Really get the sense of movement with this shot! On my monitor I don't really see any hot whites but definitely a halo around the wing. Can't see them in the repost, also the noise is gone in the wings. Very nice job getting a picture of these fast birds!