Migration has started

[shane shacaluga]

End of February sees the start of the annual migration of raptors from Africa into Europe. Whenever a strong westerly wind blows they are pushed over Gibraltar. I am lucky to be bang in the middle of their flight path so from my bedroom window i can see hundreds going by.

Here is a Short Toed Eagle that circled pretty close this morning



Nikon D7000
300f4 AFS + 1.4x TCII
1/1600 SS
f6.3
ISO 800

About 50% crop and the usual levels highlights and NR applied.
Smart sharpen - Lens Blur
Darkened the right pupil slightly

I need more reach......!!!

Comments and criticisms welcome!

[gail bisson]

Hi Shane,
Lucky you to see so many raptors!
You have a couple of things against you with this shot- the harsh light and soft focus that is made more apparent by the large crop.
I am puzzled as to why you would use lens blur. Can you explain?
Keep trying and you will soon get one closer!
gail

[shane shacaluga]

Thanks Gail. At the moment i am trying to get my workflow nailed so trying different things. What sharpening type works best for you?

Most of these birds cross between 11am and 2pm so light is coming from above. You think that is the reason for the soft focus, or is it a consequence of the crop?

thanks for the help

[gail bisson]

I think it is due to crop and not sharply focused. Some of this may be due to using the converter and when using a converter you want to stop down as much as possible. You have probably noticed that good photogs like Grace Scalzo is usually at F 10 when she uses her 2X. The light has nothing to do with soft focus.
When I convert my image to JPEG (at size 1024 pixels x 800 pixels for BPN pictures) I sharpen using (unsharp mask) the JPEG at anywhere from 20% to 50% quantity at 0.3 pixels. A lot of photogs use a much higher quantity like 75 to 125 but I personally go on the low end because I don't like oversharpened pictures at all.
I found that when I started off doing bird photography that Artie's digital basics ebook was incredibly helpful. I live in a small town and at the time no one local was into bird photography and CS5. I used his guide like a bible for for the year and then developped the skills and confidence to start doing things my own way.
Gail

[shane shacaluga]

Thanks for the comment. I too am using Artie's Digital Basics but in this one I wanted tomsee the effect of the other sharpening options.

I think my main problem is birds are too small in the frame so when i crop heavily the small detail is lost. Then when i sharpen it just looks pixelated.

Will increase the f number to f8 and see if i notice a marked improvement in sharpness

thanks a lot for your help

[Marina Scarr]

Lovely flight position and like the view from under. This raptor doesn't look tack sharp.

[Sidharth Kodikal]

Your exposure looks great and I'd move the bird further into the frame.
Lucky you to be able to witness such big numbers from your home.
Alan Murphy's second ebook has some techniques that he uses with great results to get migrating raptors at eye level. Might interest you!

[Richard Unsworth]

My favorite, had one here in the garden last October, should be coming back soon.
Nice pose and exposure. I use smart sharpen at 100,0.5 with Gaussian
well done.

[shane shacaluga]

Thanks a lot for your comments guys. I think I will revisit this shot and change the sharpening see if that makes it any better.

My main issue on this one is the size of the bird in the frame in the original shot, and the fact that the sun was high so a lot of light coming from behind the wings. I guess making the shadowed underwings lighter reduced the details too.

That combined with the comments above make this picture soft so I am going back to the drawing board ;)

Loads more raptors coming through over the next month or two so will be posting the good images.

Regards