Red Tailed Hawk in Flight

[Loi Nguyen]

Took this image last November, but felt the image was a bit flat, so haven't posted it. I used NIK Detail Extractor to get a bit more details of the top wing here and would like to get your feedback.

1DX
500f4 II + 1.4X II
1/1250
f7.1
ISO-400
AV Mode
Evaluative Metering
Exposure compensation + 2/3 EV
Handheld
Cropped to 6M pixels (1/3 of FF)

Thank you

Loi

[Marina Scarr]

Lovely bird and pose on this one, Loi. I can see why you like it, but the IQ just isn't there. I don't think cropping 1/3 on an image by a 1DX is an issue so I am thinking that your image may not have been tack sharp to begin with. More DOF would have helped at the time, but I realize this was taken last Nov and you have learned a lot since then.

[Daniel Cadieux]

Ditto Marina on all points. You did manage to get a good banking pose with a nice view of the dorsal pattern.

[Lyle Gruby]

Triple Marina and ditto Daniel.

[Loi Nguyen]

Thank you everyone for your feedback and pointing out the lack of IQ. I kept going back and forth to this image and couldn't get it to the point where I'm happy with it. Now I know why.

[arash_hazeghi]

nice banking pose, it seems to me that you raised the shadows or used some kind of filter for shadow recovery. the plumage looks a bit unnatural to my eyes and gives the impression of lacking IQ.

[Robert Holguin]

Nice shot.
I really like the banking pose and the clear blue sky.
But do agree that it's lacking detail.
Well done.

[Loi Nguyen]

nice banking pose, it seems to me that you raised the shadows or used some kind of filter for shadow recovery. the plumage looks a bit unnatural to my eyes and gives the impression of lacking IQ.

Yes I used the NIK Detail Extractor. Here is a RP without the NIK. Looking at the image closely, I think my SS was too slow to get really sharp details on the wings. The head and eye are sharper, but the wing feathers are a bit soft. I kept coming back to this image because I like the pose, but it had serious problems and can't be fixed. I'm learning a lot though. Loi

[Diane Miller]

Yes, much better this way! Detail Extractor can be wonderful but it's easy to flatten things with it.

[arash_hazeghi]

The repost is much better and it looks sharp to me. I wouldn't use this filter... it had made the original post look awful.

[shane shacaluga]

Much improved repost! Everything looks sharper although I agree with you there is a minimum amount of blur on the feather details in the wings. Was the only difference between the 2 images the NIK?