Avocet Pair

[Ian Cassell]

Canon 7D
Canon EF 400mm f/5.6L
Canon 430EX + BB
1/400sec f/7/1 ISO 400 on tripod

Levels, sharpening, crop for composition in CS5


106161

[Joel Eade]

Really like this one Ian....the lighting is unusually soft and very interesting. You got a good HA on both subjects and the sharpness looks good. I wonder about cropping off the bottom up to the first orange band of color.

Nice work.

[Jeff Cashdollar]

Ian,T

This is an outstanding image great composition very unique and the feel is serene and peaceful. When a picture had a mood like this it is really special and this has great form, color and balance. The background complements the image and the frame is well balance - very strong shot - well done.

[John Chardine]

Hi Ian- Love the colour tones here. The lighting is beautiful. The ripples around the feet suggest a CCW rotation is in order. Both birds show a hint of "steel eye" from a flash being used. I would remove this.

[Ian Cassell]

Thanks, folks. John, I'll see if I can get in there and fix that steel-eye.

[nancy hazen]

I agree with the others Ian. The lighting is wonderful. I also like the position of the birds. I see you use the 400 prime and a BB I have the 100-400 lens and have often wondered if I should get a BB. Do you use the BB often?

Nancy

[Ian Cassell]

Hey Nancy,

Thanks for commenting. No, I don't use it often and, in fact, I don't use it often enough. I've made a point recently to bring it with me and practice with it so I can judge my exposures better. There's no question that it helps when the front of the bird is in shadow and this picture wouldn't have been possible without it (although I need to work on that steel-eye thing). It's lightweight and easy to carry in your pocket. One of the problem with the 400, is the 5.6 aperture which makes it suffer in lower light -- a bit of flash can really help there.

[nancy hazen]

Thanks for the quick reply. I have the same problem with light with the 100-400. I have a 580 flash, but need more instruction on dialing in good settings. I do like how you lit the Avocets without over lighting them. Great technique.
Nancy

[Ian Cassell]

I've learned what little I know about flash by experimenting, but I recently found this link:



http://digitalbirdphotography.com/windows/7.1.html

[nancy hazen]

Thanks for this link Ian. I am going to check it out.