Northern Harrier #2

[gail bisson]

This is from the same sequence as my previous shot.
Cropped by 40% ( 60% FF)
Canon 1D MKIV
F 500mm and 1.4X III
ISO 800
SS 1/1600
F 8.0
Handheld.
PP in DPP and in CS5-levels, saturation and DE at 4%
Comments and critiques always appreciated and learned from,
Gail
I can probably crop tighter!

[Miguel Palaviccini]

Hi Gail, very nice capture all around. Some specific comments
* I think that without the head turn, this may not even be a keeper, but this head angle definitely adds quite a bit to the image.
* I agree with your comment about cropping a little tighter. It can't hurt to try, and it would be nice to see the results. Maybe even from just the top and bottom.
* The Harrier is still flying a bit away from you, which doesn't help. Not much you can do about that though.

[gail bisson]

Thanks Miguel. Here is a tighter crop.

[gail bisson]

And here is the RAW with nothing done except convert and save as JPEG.
I always like to see the original when others post!
Gail

[Miguel Palaviccini]

Gail, the repost is much better in my opinion! Thanks for sharing the original as well, I always like to see these when they are available. It really goes to show that when you expose properly and have good technique, you can get away with cropping a bit more than you would expect. I hope to see more from this series if you have them.

[Bill Jobes]

Agree that the repost presents the bird better.

In this capture, a split second later and it would have been time to hit the 'delete' button. The head turn sure did save it !

[Alan Murphy]

Love the tighter crop and a great head turn.

[PhilCook]

Wow Gail, this is very good, first impressions are there is zero room for improvement, but can see some point in others advice, yes, tighter crop is an improvement on what is already a very enviable image, hand held at a relatively low shutter speed is asking for an extra pat on the back, well done indeed...." I dunno how's ya dunnit....but ya's dun it good "

[Robert Holguin]

Very nice shot.
Excellent head turn, great baackground, nice light, and I really like the repost.
Very well done.

[Karen Forderer]

I love the look the bird is giving you. The body position doesn't bother me at all.

[arash_hazeghi]

I like the head turn and nice BG, good light and eye contact. It is somewhat a big crop and thus find details are lacking a bit. You just gotta keep trying until you get a close flyby :D easier said than done

[Satish Ranadive]

Gail:
Excellent flight pose captured.I like the tight crop.Love the head angle.

Regards,
Satish.

[Marina Scarr]

The tighter crop definitely works better but I agree with Arash on the lack of details. I understand your frustration since this is one of my nemesis birds but your patience and persistence will eventually pay off.

[Sanjeevprakash]

Great Shot,Gail.You have nailed the focus on this fast flying bullets.The tighter crop looks much better.TFS

[dankearl]

The head turn and wing position are very nice.
I share your frustration with getting closer, especially since they are very common where I live.
Tough subjects, you did fine.

[Frank Schauf]

Really nice flight shot and great details, Gail.

[Doug Brown]

Nice head turn, and I like the wings in full downstroke. Sharpness is good, but the crop definitely takes a toll on perceived detail. I like the beach BG too. All in all, a solid shot of a challenging subject!