Gone Fishin'

[Ian Cassell]

Early morning at the Gilbert Riparian Preserve

Canon 7D
Canon EF 400mm f/5.6L
Induro tripod/gimbal

1/1600 sec f/7.1 ISO 800

Levels, sharpening in CS6, nearly FF

[P-A. Fortin]

Nice image. I like the water drop on the bill. I'm having a rough time figuring out the correct "bird to environment" balance in such images, but I like this one so I guess you got it right.

Wish the lighting was coming from behind you. It results in a bright spot on the body that gets the eye away from the head of the bird.

[Ian Cassell]

Thanks, P -A. I see what you mean about the bright spot. I'm going to go back and try a little PP and see if I can bring down the brightness on his body (yes, the sun was behind me but to the right). Maybe the burn tool will work.

EDIT: Ok, I went back in and used the burn tool on the backside and a bit of dodging on the neck. I worked on the JPEG since I don't have the RAW file here on my laptop at the moment. Thoughts?

[Kerry Perkins]

Hi Ian, this is an interesting capture and I like the action. I'm afraid the mixed light and the angle just don't combine in your favor. Notice too that you have mixed tones, with the blue from the sky on top and warm sunlight everywhere else. Had the bird been parallel to the sensor you could have made a better exposure. The repost is better, good job with the rescue.

[Jeff Cashdollar]

Ian,

Good comments above and the repost is better,..

Nice use of the burn tool, good job reducing the brights notice how the detail has returned to the image. The light was challenging but you did well considering the conditions. I like the use of tripod good field technique,..keep em coming.