Training for London 2012

[gail bisson]

I know the HA is not correct but how often do you see a bald eagle run? I love this one for fun and whimsy. He was being harassed by a crow and was moving away from him. Dark, cloudy day.
Canon 1d MK IV
f 500 and 1.4X
f 6.3
SS 1/1600
ISO 500
Manual and HH. Cropped by 20%
PP in LR3 and CS5 and Color Effex
Comments and critiques always learned from and appreciated with thanks,
Gail

[Arthur Morris]

Love that rear talon and the ice chunks. Too bad that the crow did not chase it towards you.... Nicely processed in the crummy light. Name too close to frame edge....

[gail bisson]

Signature fixed! Thanks for lighting the fire under me Artie, as I have been meaning to fix this forever but keep forgetting to do it...until now,
Gail

[Cheryl Arena Molennor]

Geez too bad he's not at a better asngle cause it is very cool. Still a neat moment captured and at perfect timing too.

[Stuart Hill]

The action far outways the HA in this image for me. To my eyes though it seems a little heavy handed on the color effex around the tail area whites? (My eyes may not be the best ;-) )

Kind regards.
Stu.

[Melissa Groo]

Great detail and cool moment captured, Gail. Love how both feet are pretty much in the air!

[Karl Egressy]

I like the action, feather detail and the high key effect.
I don't mind the HA at all.

[Randy Stout]

Gail:

Fun and unusual action. HA mentioned.

I tend to agree with Stuart. For my taste, two much detail extractor on the body , a vaguely HDR gone bad feel to it. I tended to overuse that tool initially, but have settled back considerably, and try to use it with a light touch.

Perhaps just reduce the opacity of the detail extractor layer, and see if perhaps less is in fact more!

Cheers

Randy

[Arthur Morris]

Signature fixed! Thanks for lighting the fire under me Artie, as I have been meaning to fix this forever but keep forgetting to do it...until now, Gail

YAW. "If something is worth including in the frame, always include the whole thing with a border." :)

Furthermore, I'd crop from the top and bottom for more of a 3X2 proportion. And just for the record books, the head angle is fine here; it is the subject to film plane orientation that is the problem here if you wish to be semantically accurate.

For those who say--as I fully expect some--that they are fine with the bird angling away I can only say ??? The DE amount looks fine. I do think that the body feathers could go a bit darker either with a Curves adjustment, Selective Color, or some Tonal Contrast. See "Bad Luck/Worse Luck; Bye Bye Birdies (http://www.birdsasart-blog.com/2012/03/18/bad-luckworse-luck-bye-bye-birdies/)" for some tips on getting DE and TC exactly where you want it in images like this.

[Randy Stout]

Artie:

It was the unnatural lightness of the body feathers that stimulated my comment about too much DE. Even allowing for reflection off the snow, they are too light.

If I overdo DE on darks, that is the effect I tend to get.

Randy

[dankearl]

I looks fine to me. A nice moment captured, if you didn't mention the poor light, I would
not have noticed. I tend to like the comp and the action.

[Satish Ranadive]

Excellent action captured.Wonderful image.

[gail bisson]

Thank you all for helpful comments! I will redo tonight after work. I agree about the too light body feathers and crop.
Gail

[Rod Warnock]

Great image ! Gail !! You obviously visit art galleries hence use a variety of crops how very refreshing.
Best regards
Rod Warnock

[arash_hazeghi]

nice pose and details agree with artie about HA

[Roman Kurywczak]

Better angle towards you would have put it over the top! Still and very good image and the flying snow is a great bonus too!

[Jonathan Ashton]

Beautiful shot Gail - I really like the pose and the colours, one to be proud of I reckon.

[Richard Unsworth]

:S3: GBreat action shot Gail, possibly unique?
Understand re HA though BUT ITS GREAT!

[Stu Bowie]

Hi Gail, after being for a run myself this evening, I know how he feels. :w3 I really like the determined running posture, and well timed to get both feet off the ground. The flying snow adds interest, and you have done extremely well considering the conditions described.

[gail bisson]

Here is my repost. I toned down the DE on the entire image and removed the effect entirely from the body and changed the crop. Gail

[Randy Stout]

Gail:

To my eye, the plumage looks more natural here, I really prefer this version. I think the crop strengthens the sense of running or direction in the frame.

Cheers

Randy

[Kaustubh Deshpande]

Gail, loved the moment you captured. perfectly timed. unique, as well. Well done.

[Melissa Groo]

Great job on this rework, Gail, I like it a lot better. More natural colors and crop is more engaging.

[Jim Crosswell]

I like the action, details and repost looks great. Well done Gail!

[RakeshDhareshwar]

#20 looks perfect . Not too hung up on the HA , the flying snow adds to the action . So one more medal in London .

[Rosie Green]

There would be more medals here in London if we had birds like this!! I think this is one of the most attractive BH Eagle shots I've ever seen! Love the snow action under the back foot and the general thrusting forward dynamism of the bird. That angry eye is there regardless of head angle so it does it for me!

[Arthur Morris]

Hey Rosie, It's just a B Eagle :).

[Rosie Green]

You guys are SO lucky!! I'm going to have to come over there and share in your bounty soon!
Best wishes to you Artie.
Rosie.

[Arthur Morris]

That's booty! And yes, we are lucky. Robert O'Toole and I will be taking two groups to Homer next March so keep your eyes on the Bulletins. He is up there right now and is killing.

[Robert Holguin]

Wonderful image. I really like the unique pose, never seen one like this. Excellent feather detail, love the snow coming off the rear foot, and very well composed.
Well done.