Marbled Godwit at last light

Was able to pull myself away from Red Sox - Astros game for a bit of late afternoon shooting. I have been trying for a shot like this for a while -
just enough wave action to add some background texture but not enough to distract from or overpower the subject. I was really lucky with
this frame as neither wave directly intersects the subject. I had opened up to f/4 just to mess around a bit, so I didn't get either wing tip in
focus. But I think it works since the central body of the bird - beak to feet - is so crispy sharp. Curious what others think......

Canon 600mm f/4 IS II on EOS 5D Mark IV
1/4000 at f/4, ISO 400, handheld
Single point offset to left to leave more frame/room ahead of bird
Processed in LR CC with no significant trickery

Cheers!

For mine, as long as you have the eye in focus you have artistic freedom to present different from 'standard' views. I guess that could extend to eye focus too, but it would need to be otherwise compelling... This is very nice, if a bit vivid to me. My eyes go directly to the head and eye.

The whole bird looks more than sharp enough to me. And I love the downstroke wing position. You might ease off on the warmth a bit.

Which exact AF point was selected? What AF mode were you using?

Please post a JPEG of the original.

am

Oh, that sweet last light... Plenty of focus in the right places for me. Love the BG except that one almost circular light spot in front of this beauty. TFS

Here is the original. I flipped the image since I shoot at the same place all the time and all my my shots would be birds flying R > L if I didn't mix it up a bit!
For flight stuff, I always offset the AF point so the bird is flying into the wider part of the frame. They're always going the same direction at this spot, so it's
easy!

I actually cooled the image down on the slider (I really like blue) but might have gone a bit far boosting the oranges tones.

Setting sensitivity -2, Acc/Decel tracking -1, AF point switching 0. I've honestly never found much of a difference with these settings. Getting the big lens
up and the bird centered as fast as possible (i.e. technique) seems to be the biggest variable in my experience!

Attachment 178152

Looks very nice Dorian. I have to come out there some time and shot at this place.Seems like a great place to have close birds come by with great backgrounds. Great downstroke and head angle as well. You have done really well with the 5d4 and flight shots. Not many have been successful with that so congrats.

This one checks all the boxes, plus a few (such as the vivid technicolor box). Great flight pose and position, wonderful background, super light. Very nicely anticipated and captured.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Dorian Anderson

Here is the original. I flipped the image since I shoot at the same place all the time and all my my shots would be birds flying R > L if I didn't mix it up a bit!
For flight stuff, I always offset the AF point so the bird is flying into the wider part of the frame. They're always going the same direction at this spot, so it's easy!

I actually cooled the image down on the slider (I really like blue) but might have gone a bit far boosting the oranges tones.

Setting sensitivity -2, Acc/Decel tracking -1, AF point switching 0. I've honestly never found much of a difference with these settings. Getting the big lens
up and the bird centered as fast as possible (i.e. technique) seems to be the biggest variable in my experience!

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Thanks. Bases on the image design for the orginal post it is about as I had figured; I had not thought that you were using an upper right AF point. I agree that the settings do not matter much at all :)

Last question: what AF mode?

with love, artie

Wonderfully sharp and boy do i like it, great colors... So for your flight shots single point eh? I also have the 5DMiv, do you intentionally increase SS?

Beautiful ...Love the colours throughout, at first I thought it was too warm, But, the more I look, I like the warmth, and the sharpness looks ok here.

Will

The downstroke pose is nice and the light looks quite sweet. The cases confuse me one person says use these another person says use these ones.

Hi Dorian, sweet, sweet light, and Im fine with the colours. Great flight pose with the full down stroke of the wings, and overall, the sharpness is spot on. Pops nicely against the blues of the BG.