Yes, at this time of year I become obsessed with these birds, as they are cranking out new ones and the adults are very active as well. This one is definitely a juvi, learning to fly and doing a fine job. The sky was washed out in this one, so I borrowed another sky. I do this a lot as I think the plain sky background is boring. Shadows boosted in LR4, two stages of sharpening using Topaz Detail and USM in CS5.
1D4, EF400mm f/5.6L
Manual mode, f/5.6@1/1000 ISO 400 WB 5100K
AI Servo autofocus, hand-held no flash
"It is an illusion that photos are made with the camera... they are made with the eye, heart, and head." - Henri Cartier Bresson
Ian, the first sharpening is done on the RAW or TIFF file (in LR or PS), this is called capture sharpening. The second round is done just before saving for web and after resizing. This is called output sharpening. This method is recommended by every source I have learned PP from. One good reason behind it is that I save the TIFF file before re-sizing and the original file will need a bit of sharpening as I do very little (setting of 2) in the camera. Then, if I am uploading to my website or printing the image I will add output sharpening that is appropriate for each medium. Saving for web at the relatively small size required by BPN calls for more output sharpening because a lot of detail is lost in the JPEG sizing.
"It is an illusion that photos are made with the camera... they are made with the eye, heart, and head." - Henri Cartier Bresson
Aha, Kerry, thanks for that explanation. I have historically only sharpened early in my RAW file (not in-camera either) and haven't sharpened again on converting to JPEG or re-sizing. I'm going to play with that. Why do you use 2 different software packages for it?
Ian, I try a lot of techniques and this one worked out well so I've been using it a lot. The secret for using Topaz Detail for the capture sharpening is to use just a bit of "small detail". I find that this sets up some detail that makes the USM work very nicely with the down-sized image. I will post my presets later today if you like.
"It is an illusion that photos are made with the camera... they are made with the eye, heart, and head." - Henri Cartier Bresson
I really cant see anything worthy of mentioning to change Kerry.....the under body light is superb and the blue sky and fine misty cloud is the perfect backdrop, perfect as is imo.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying I'm the greatest photographer (just a hobby), I just don't like the idea of adding elements to a photo. I think your image itself is awesome - I struggle constantly with underexposing BIF (due to the direction of the light).
Mark, it is a "hobby" for me too. I am encouraging you to post your images here for critique. This is our definition of what a "participant" does to participate. I see that you signed up for BPN three years ago, but you have only posted five times and none of the posts contained images. So stop struggling and start posting and we will help you!
"It is an illusion that photos are made with the camera... they are made with the eye, heart, and head." - Henri Cartier Bresson
Red-tailed Hawk again...
Originally Posted by Mark Schaefer
