Went out this morning searching for the Red Tailed Hawk that I under-exposed yesterday. Fortunately, found him perched on a high tree. I used the car as a blind to approach him since there was no cover. Then I got out of the far side door and set up my tripod and waited until he took off. I debated how much of his perch to include and settled for this crop. Appreciate your comments.
Love your patience and solid field technique using a blind,..well done. Were you using a Canon f/4 500MM, if so with a 2X you were basically wide open at f/8,..nice job. This image might be a bit overexposed,.. notice the blown whites under the wing,..still not a bad capture and this can be recovered or replaced with the clone tool. Practice test shots and review the histogram to get the exposure right are you M, AV or TV?
The composition is alright, maybe too tight but I like including the perch; possibly not a pano crop and remove a layer from the right and add to the left, lets see what others say. Great day, powerful bird and a great moment with nature,..keep em coming and watch that histogram. Oh, do you have blinkies turned on you camera's info screen?
Last edited by Jeff Cashdollar; 02-10-2013 at 05:29 PM.
Hi Jeff, thank you for your comments. I do have extra canvas to the left and can add easily. Yes, it is a Canon 500f4 plus 2X, so this is wide open. I should have remembered and shot at F10 instead. I was in Manual Mode and did do some test shots prior to this one. I was just to close to the edge, so when the light part of the bird faced the sun, the whites got blown a little bit. Yes, I had blinkies on and afterward realized that I have blown the whites. The bird's colors seem a little dull to me, but my PP is limited and this is as far as I cn go in LR4. I will also need to get CS6 and a calibrated monitor for home. It's pretty hard to really tell from a lap top.
Thanks, and that can happen; the sun can reflect off the whites that becomes the area to set your exposure. I always set for the brightest area and add with lighting like this. That being said, the sun can still blow a few from time to time (happens to me) but I add the extra shutter speed in cases like this and usually get it right.
I agree that the mid tones could use some pop and a levels or curves adjustments might help. I use CS5 and plan to upgrade too. Do you use a post processing workflow? Do you have the Art of Bird Photography and/or Digital Basics by Artie?
Last edited by Jeff Cashdollar; 02-10-2013 at 06:19 PM.
Jeff, I have both. The art of Bird Photography is what got me where I am today within 6 months. I have been shooting for only 1 year. Digital Basics I got, but I have not learned (shame on me). I started out with LR, so anything in PS seems really complicated. I got PS Element 11, but have not had time to really learn it either. someday I will breakdown and get myself PS CS6 and then really learn the digital workflow that Art is teaching.
Red Tailed Hawk Takes Off
