Peregrine Falcon

[Jonathan Spool]

Here is another capture of the peregrine falcon I was working with at Ocean Shores. Not as many lighting challenges with this one.
OMD EM1 Sigma 300-800 5.6 1/2000 sec f/5.6 ISO400 800mm

[Tim Foltz]

Hi Jonathan, a few critiques with this shot, image seems a bit over exposed and the white balance is a bit warm, also the image is little on the soft side.
For a sitting bird you shouldn't have to shoot at 1/2000 and also a better DOF would help with the sharpness, f/8 would have been better.
Enclosed is a image to see your solid whites and your solid blacks.

-Tim

[Jonathan Spool]

Appreciated Tim. With the 800 lens at a 2x fov I tend to shoot at very fast shutter speeds in order to combat the minutest of movement. I'll try slowing it down a bit. The WB is as shot (sunset) hence the warmth, but I could cool it down in PP.
Kind of a noob question, but how do I get the pure whites and blacks to highlight "blinkies" in Photoshop CC?

[Tim Foltz]

Appreciated Tim. With the 800 lens at a 2x fov I tend to shoot at very fast shutter speeds in order to combat the minutest of movement. I'll try slowing it down a bit. The WB is as shot (sunset) hence the warmth, but I could cool it down in PP.
Kind of a noob question, but how do I get the pure whites and blacks to highlight "blinkies" in Photoshop CC?

If it's in the same spot… I'm still using CS6 extended. While you're in RAW check the little top corner boxes of your histogram.

-Tim

[Jonathan Spool]

I'll tale a look. Thanks

[Stuart Philpott]

Jon a challenging Bird to say the least,also looks like quite challenging light too. I like the frame,but feel you are a bit far away ,have you cropped this? john is it possible to stake out perches build a hide or some means of getting in a bit closer. Falcons oft have favourite spots,you may well already know where these are and might be able to make use of the knowledge you have already learned.
John i've never really had a chance at Peregrines. But you seem a have a great spot ,it has to be worth going back a few mre time and trying some field craft in an effort to put things more in your favour

all the luck John

Stu

[Jonathan Spool]

Thanks Stuart,
There is no significant crop on this photo at all. I can pretty much fill the frame with my Sigma 300-800, which has an equivalent FOV for me of 600-1600. I am able to get pretty close to these birds with a car so am shooting off of a beanbag through the window.
Undoubtedly, I need to up my game when it comes to exposure. I always check my histogram before and after each shot (in the viewfinder) to make sure I am not blowing anything out, but evidently that was not sufficient in this case.