Virginia Rail Portrait.

[Daniel Cadieux]

A Virginia Rail checking me out. Rails are very secretive and most people hear them rather them see them. With judiscious use of audio, some can be lured quite close. This very responsive one was photographed at just about the 100-400's minimum focussing distance of 6 feet. Full-frame image. I do wish the bill tip was sharp too, but I did not want to sacrifice more SS at this point...

Canon 100-400L @ 375mm, manual exposure, evaluative metering, 1/200s., f/6.3, ISO 800, 580 EX II flash @ -0.7 FEC, handheld.

[Craig Clute]

I agree with your bill comment Daniel, however I think that the eye sharpness and impressive feather detail far out weigh the bill. Nice job drawing out the Rail.

[RakeshDhareshwar]

This one is sharp . Love the catchlight !! You would have needed to stop down to f11 or more to get him totally . With a rare species , it could result in a miss .

[Susan Candelario]

I understand your problem between DOF and slower SS, specially with an elusive species at hand. I do like the details in the eye and head. The b/g is great!

[Stu Bowie]

Good use of subtle flash Dan, and you have focussed on the critical area of the Rail. Great eye.

I find when using my minimum focussing distance on my 100-400, it seems to produce slightly sharper results.

[Luis Villablanca]

Dan, I love the detail and super background you were able to get. Do you have any shots of the full bird? I look forward to them.
I wonder though if a more squared head angle would have helped in keeping the bill inside the DOF. Alternatively, a higher ISO would have allowed you
to use a smaller aperture (at the expense of noise).

[Kaustubh Deshpande]

Daniel, your work with the audio is always very impressive. head shot of a rail with 400mm....thats incredible. great details, excellent comp. and flashwork.

[Chad Caswell]

Agree with your comment about the bill :w3 But you nailed the eye instead :Whoa!: agree with others about looking forward to seeing the whole bird if you have any. Nice job on detail and color, almost would like to see more room on the left and bottom, and maybe a lower perspective.

[Art Kornienko]

Hi Dan, 100-400 sure is sharp. Was this a local shot? Agree with the Peter about top of eyeball.

[Daniel Cadieux]

Hey thanks guys! I do have full body images...stay tuned.

Art, this was at Jack Pine Trail, first pond if walking the trail counter clockwise.

[Michael Lotito]

Great job getting close to this bird. They are quite spooky. The OOF bill does not bother me.

[Marina Scarr]

Lovely capture of this recluse. You have nice details. I'd clean the eye up a tad.

[Mike Milicia]

Great job getting close and a clean BG!

Seems like bird could maybe go a bit lighter?

[Sidharth Kodikal]

Awesome comp, eye contact and sharpness, Daniel. Great work with the flash too.
If anything, I'd remove the highlights at the periphery of the eye (at the top left especially)