Kori Bustard
Hello Everyone,
Humbly posting one of my avian shots...I took great delight in viewing some awesome images in this Forum tonight
Nikon D4
Nikon 500mm F4
ISO 500
F5.6
1/800s
Comments and critique of any nature much appreciated, thank you for taking the time to view.
Gabriela Plesea
Mean looking bird Gabriela. Bird and BG look both fine to me. I wonder about a different crop ?
Maybe vertical - even squarish . Not sure. Good picture whatever.
John
Hi Gabriela a good thing to post this as the Kori´s are overlooked most of the times , and from my experience they are not very often cooperative in the field, so you did well to get this close up !!
I am actually fine with the comp/crop . Great BG with just enough detail without be distracting .
Lovely colors and detail /sharpness .
From my POV the 3/4 tones are a bit dull /light , but this could be just me .
So my RP trie to illustrate my point , i could have gone to far for your taste , and i should have excluded the BG at least in parts (lower opacity for the BG ) .
WDYT ?
Cheers and TFS your Boetie
Nice image and the repost look better. I would have used vertical cut for this portrait.
You have some super detail Gabriela ,cropping is fine for me but I do like the slightly darker repost, would be happy if it was mine.
Keith.
very nice Gabriela,love the detail,like the repost but for the dark bit under the bill,in the BG.TFS.
Hi Gabriela, I think Andreas has answered you own question in his RP, but would only applied this to the subject via a Layer & Mask. To me it needs that contrast between subject and BKG, however it highlights the darker patch under the beak if applied Globally, I would blend it in. Love the late afternoon, warm colours, nicely composed too and remember, with the D4 just increase the SS/ISO, no IQ lost and you will have a sharper/better image.
TFS
Steve
What an interesting bird. The portrait shows the detail wonderfully. I would hope that someday the bird and I might cross paths. Thank you for sharing.
Joe Przybyla
"Sometimes I do get to places just as God is ready to have somebody click the shutter"... Ansel Adams
www.amazinglight.smugmug.com
The light angle has given you some really neat textures on the feathers. I like the alert pose and windswept crest. I like the composition better than I thought I would from the thumbnail. I wonder if adding a touch of reds to the overall colour balance would add to the richness and warmth of the low light you had...
P.S. I did not forget about your PM.....
Thank you all so much for viewing and comments, happy to hear from you and really appreciate your help Steve, as well as your RP, Andreas:)
I have 8 versions of this, the last two probably more to your taste, earlier ones "thin" in terms of tonality. I did post the wrong one though, only realised now, in the last version I dealt with that dark spot for it was bothering me:)
Regarding crop, this is about 40%. I like the composition as is and cropping further would affect the IQ tremendously.
One of those images I thought I would end up deleting. I have this habit (don't know if good or bad but it often pays off ) of shooting a few frames while the vehicle is still in motion, afraid subject will move by the time we stop and doing so gives me a kind of thrill. Andreas saw me doing it in the KTP, and Boetie you might have laughed at me but I love to grab some shots no one has, and especially when a lion is walking right past my nose:)
Steve, I usually aim for at least 1/1000s even with a stationary subject, here I shot with whatever settings I had and only upped ISO later. By the way, this was captured at H189. I am not scared to push ISO and deal with noise later. Next week I am getting a D4S from Nikon to test, very excited to see what it can do and will definitely try it out at very high ISO
I like your RP Andreas, I am not always concerned with "keeping things as they were" and love your tweaks in order to get more punch, here's one of my latest versions, WDYT, does it come close to yours?
Once again thank you all for your input, very grateful
Gabriela Plesea
Hi Gabriela, I've seen the files remember, they are great so no need to worry, you have seen my recent image at 4000, and others here in the Avian have gone even hirer with superb results, try it, you have nothing to loose, you have the kit.I am not scared to push ISO and deal with noise later.
Thank you so much Daniel, hope my second image has the touch of reds you mentioned:) I know you remember the PM, no rush though, whenever you have the time
Steve, but your image at 4000 ISO is awesome! By the way, I have some taken at 10000 ISO but have not touched them yet, maybe I should, you might like to see?
Just want to try the D4S and see how it performs, since Nikon is so kind to lend me one. I have to replace my D3S at some stage anyway. Next week-end I'll have fun I think, weather permitting or not...Had this fantasy for some time now, would love to shoot some lions or hyena in the rain
Thank you so much Steve, I'll be back with more images, love our discussions and just to hear everyone's opinion, keeps things interesting:)
Have a lovely evening,
Gabriela Plesea
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