Great AF Tip!

Wild Turkey — tight vertical portrait of a young tom

This image was created on the morning of September 6, 2019, at Indian Lake Estates (ILE). I used the handheld Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 500mm f/5.6E PF ED VR lens and my souped-up Nikon D850 Auto ISO: 800. Matrix metering plus about 1/3 stop: 1/2500 sec. at f/5.6 in Manual mode was perfect. Natural AUTO1 at 7:41am on a dead-clear morning.

Two up from the center d-25 Continous AF was active at the moment of exposure. The selected AF point was on the pink wattle.

Nikon Focus Peaking fine-tune value: +4. See the Nikon AF Fine-tune e-Guide here.

To learn the AF trick that I used to create this image, see the 500 PF Young Tom Magic. And a vertical AF tip ... blog post here.

if you'd like to visit ILE or learn about Circle Bar B, other great Lakeland locations, and a few more great spots, check out The BAA Middle of Florida Site Guide that I co-wrote and co-illustrated with Joe Przybyla.

with love, artie

Beautiful shot Arthur! I love the metallic sheen on the feathers and the cone-like fleshy bit on the forehead. Great light too. If this image were mine, I'd dodge the slightly darker patch of grass to the left of the bird, but that's very nitpicky.

Such incongruous looking birds, definitely designed by a committee. Lovely shot. I also would have removed that darker patch in the grass.

Thanks, Aditya. The one on the left frame-edge?

a

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Originally Posted by Colin Driscoll

Such incongruous looking birds, definitely designed by a committee. Lovely shot. I also would have removed that darker patch in the grass.

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Thanks, Colin. Which darker patch?

a

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Originally Posted by Arthur Morris

Thanks, Aditya. The one on the left frame-edge?

a

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Yes, that patch :S3:

About as perfect as it gets. Lovely colors, spot on detail and pure background. I am wondering why you chose D-25 rather than a single autofocus point? Was the bird moving or stationary? Thank you for sharing, Artie.

P.S. I would leave the darker patch. I think sometimes we can make a image too perfect and loose the reality/natural history.

Super image. Hand held. Does that mean you were not in a blind?

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Originally Posted by Jack Backs

Super image. Hand held. Does that mean you were not in a blind?

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Thanks. And yes, I just walked up to a flock and was surprised at how tame they were. See the whole story on the blog.

a

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Originally Posted by Joseph Przybyla

About as perfect as it gets. Lovely colors, spot-on detail and pure background. I am wondering why you chose D-25 rather than a single autofocus point? Was the bird moving or stationary? Thank you for sharing, Artie.

P.S. I would leave the darker patch. I think sometimes we can make an image too perfect and loose the reality/natural history.

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Hi Joe. Thanks. I use d-25 in situations like this because I am not as steady as I once way :). It gives me room for framing error ... If the area on the left frame-edge were darker, I would address it. On the other hand, I love the reddish-brown stuff in the LRC as it picks up some of the tones in the plumage and helps move the viewer's eye around the frame.

with love, a

The feathers are amazing...beautiful colours and texture. Almost 3D look about them. The head is sharp with a nice HA..Love the eye.

Will

This is really sharp! Excellent comp, I would take off the tiny second catchlight at the top of the eye.

Very nice frame all around. Like the pose and the sheen on those feathers. Killer background. This looks better here than on the blog. Turkeys rule!

Just the type of portrait that I love! When I first got the 7D2 and read about this feature in the manual I was so happy and set it up immediately. I go vertical quite often and most of those time the focus point needs to be higher than center. Awesome details and colours.

Artie, I wish this was mine, I love turkeys. Never seen one here in so CA., The coloration on those feathers is insane, nice and sharp too.

-Tim

perfect head shot although I like this bird better on my plate than hanging from my wall :O

Very nice Shot. I like the background colors and the colors on the bird.

TFS