This shot was taken today on the Isle of May. I'd like to hear peoples comments on this shot, I'm not quite sure it works so please don't hold back, be honest.
Thanks for looking.
Martin
Body:1DX
500mm F4 Mk2
Iso 200
F5.6
1/2500th
He tasks me. He tasks me, and I shall have him. I’ll chase him ’round the moons of Nibia and ’round the Antares maelstrom and ’round Perdition’s flames before I give him up.”
It sure works for me Martin--a most distinguished portrait, beautifully focused, exposed, and composed. You've done a fine job of showing all the fine details of the facial structure, both feather and beak, of this fellow ( and also the supper he's captured ).
He tasks me. He tasks me, and I shall have him. I’ll chase him ’round the moons of Nibia and ’round the Antares maelstrom and ’round Perdition’s flames before I give him up.”
Beautiful exposure and details well focused, DOf is just about there I would have suggested in retrospect f8 at this magnification and you would have still had a fast shutter speed, in fact looking at the info you have several stops of ISO at your disposal.
Am I right you used ACR as opposed to DPP4?
Last edited by Jonathan Ashton; 07-09-2016 at 03:44 AM.
Thank you for the comments mate. I used Lightroom 6 for post processing. I only made minor adjustments to the exposure and a small amount of sharpening, and finally I adjusted the crop slightly.
Martin
He tasks me. He tasks me, and I shall have him. I’ll chase him ’round the moons of Nibia and ’round the Antares maelstrom and ’round Perdition’s flames before I give him up.”
Is it me or is the nictitating membrane completely closed? Never seen an eye look like that. Check your other files and let me know.
Besides that the portrait looks great with lots of nice details and colors and I like the good look at the mouthful of sand eels. The comp and Bg look good too. Well done
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Hi Martin, light looks quite strong based on the whites & strong shadow on the chest, so well done in controlling that. Agree on the membrane, unfortunate but... also, as Dan mentioned going a little lower would have been better. I do feel you could have easily gain more DoF i.e. f/13 to have the sand eels all sharp too, do not be afraid of pushing the ISO Martin, the 1DX can easily handle it, so don't let captures evade you by worrying about ISO. The FP looks slightly forward of the eye based on the detail & sharpness, I would try to get it bang on that eye, but could be wrong. Personally I would cone out the hint of sand eel tail on the edge of the beak.
Nice bird, background, and sand eels. In addition to the problems mentioned above the harsh light has caused unpleasant shadows and the white breast feathers look a bit greyed out and too blue.
As for d-o-f with image like these folks might learn a bit in the Old Dog Re-learns a Long Lens Depth-of-Field Trick. More 5DS R Incredible Detail, This Time at 1200mm... blog post here.
a
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Interesting article Artie, re placement of the Focus point, although my thought on the increased DoF perhaps/seems to have been spot on. 'Look & learn' I think is the order of the day , thanks.
The membrane is closed! I knew nothing of the sort existed, thank you for the heads up! most interesting!!
Martin
He tasks me. He tasks me, and I shall have him. I’ll chase him ’round the moons of Nibia and ’round the Antares maelstrom and ’round Perdition’s flames before I give him up.”
Thank you for the comments on the puffin. I agree with what you were saying about the depth of field. Right now I have just finished reading the blog about the depth of field.
Whilst on the isle of May yesterday this was something that I was trying to achieve. I’ve only had my 500mm for a little over a month now and I’m still getting to grips with it and the recently purchased 1DX. So next time my plan is to stop down further and try and focus on the beak rather than the eye, depending upon the bird in question.
Last night I was talking with Will Dickson and was asking how to get more than one bird in the frame sharp just like his shot of the two arctic terns, because yesterday I seen on many occasions a couple of puffins huddled together on a rock, but I couldn't for the life of me, get them both sharp.
Do you have any pointers Arthur?
Best wishes
Martin
He tasks me. He tasks me, and I shall have him. I’ll chase him ’round the moons of Nibia and ’round the Antares maelstrom and ’round Perdition’s flames before I give him up.”
Thank you for the comments on the puffin. I agree with what you were saying about the depth of field. Right now I have just finished reading the blog about the depth of field.
Whilst on the isle of May yesterday this was something that I was trying to achieve. I’ve only had my 500mm for a little over a month now and I’m still getting to grips with it and the recently purchased 1DX. So next time my plan is to stop down further and try and focus on the beak rather than the eye, depending upon the bird in question.
Last night I was talking with Will Dickson and was asking how to get more than one bird in the frame sharp just like his shot of the two arctic terns, because yesterday I seen on many occasions a couple of puffins huddled together on a rock, but I couldn't for the life of me, get them both sharp.
Do you have any pointers Arthur?
Best wishes
Martin
YAW. With two birds in the frame, you need to get very lucky and have them on or almost on the same plane. Otherwise, one will be soft. Those can work out great. With the puffins with fish the trick as it says in the blog post is to use a small aperture, focus on our side of the plane of the bird's eye, and hope for the best... If the bird is just sitting there moving its head around I will try putting the AF point on different spots (though I have never tried focus stacking...)
Do consider joining my 2017 Puffins and Gannets IPT; I have a Brit or two along every year. You can learn more about the trip and the BPN Member's discount here.
Thanks BTW for your membership support and welcome.
a
BIRDS AS ART Blog: great info and lessons, lots of images with our legendary BAA educational Captions; we will not sell you junk. 30+ years of long lens experience/e-mail with gear questions.
BIRDS AS ART Online Store: we will not sell you junk. 35 years of long lens experience. Please e-mail with gear questions.
Check out the new SONY e-Guide and videos that I did with Patrick Sparkman here. Ten percent discount for BPN members,
Hi Martin, Very nice image. It looks a wee bit dark on my screen. I also agree on using more DOF. I love the detail you have captured and also the BG fits very nicely.
Puffin Portrait
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Originally Posted by Martin Currie
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