American Bittern

[WIlliam Maroldo]

Sony A900~Sony 500 F4 G~Sony 1.4x~ISO 1600~F6.3~1/800~manual exposure~hand held~10-15-2012~Brazos Bend State Park, Texas. ~ CS6
Overcast. Close to full frame. Used smart sharpen on down-sampled image, and was wondering if it looks oversharpened? Any comments and critique welcomed. regards~Bill

[Kerry Perkins]

Hi Bill, I think the image looks fine as is - the sharpening is ok to my eye. There are some "jaggies" that could be selectively removed, but overall I think it looks good. Nice job on the exposure, color, and composition - which is a little different but I like it.

[Clyde Hopper]

Hi Bill, I think the image looks fine as is - the sharpening is ok to my eye. There are some "jaggies" that could be selectively removed, but overall I think it looks good. Nice job on the exposure, color, and composition - which is a little different but I like it.

Mr.Kerry , I can't find a reference to "Jaggies " in my "Bird photographers " Handbook . Will you please elaborate ? I type this with a smile on my face ,However I need to educate my eye in this exact area .

[Ian Cassell]

Bill, this is one of those birds I'm still trying to capture. To my eye, it looks great. I don't think it is oversharpened and, frankly, can't see Kerry's "jaggies" so I hope he does come back with more details. The composition is beautiful and the DOF looks just right to me. I'm very impressed with the quality at 1/800 with a 700mm lens. Congrats!

[WIlliam Maroldo]

Thanks guys. I think Kerry is referring to the "crease" in the backgrond under the eye, which could be dealt with pretty easily. Ian, the image stabilization of the A900 body probably helped. Maybe a few details would be helpul; I was walking around a bend, and noticed the bittern on the bank up ahead a bit. I froze, and contemplated my next move, knowing this was a rare opportunity. I had a tripod with me, but the movement of unfolding and attaching the camera might be noticed. Instead, I left the tripod on the ground, and I approached very slowly, taking shots as I progressed. Approaching subjects "dead on", with no lateral movement, helps. I was able to get suprisingly close. I might note that I was concerned about the low shutter-speed, as well as ISO 1600 being a little high. After a number of shots, I slowly backed up to the distance I first saw the bird, and slowly unfolded the tripod and attached the camera, intent on using a more reasonable ISO while I wouldn't have to worry about camera shake. The bittern apparently did notice this activity and flew off. First and last American Bittern I've seen this year. regards~Bill

[Kerry Perkins]

Here ya go - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jaggies

[WIlliam Maroldo]

Kerry, I know what jaggies are, and what anti-alaising is, but I failed to see what you were referring to in the image, so I thought it was something different. Could you point to what you are seeing? regards~Bill

[Kerry Perkins]

Bill, I see them in the area outlined here as an example. I was responding to Clyde's request for elucidation.

[WIlliam Maroldo]

Interesting observation Kerry, and I couldn't see it until I enlarged the image. I thought the problem might oversharpening. I checked and it is not evident on the full sized image as you would expect (original 24 MP RAW). I selected the area you pointed out, and downsampled to web size, and observed a similar effect, so I can rule out sharpening and jpeg artifacts. I know that downsampling often requires sharpening, but anti-aliasing? regards~Bill