Results 1 to 13 of 13

Thread: Secretary bird

  1. #1
    Forum Participant
    Join Date
    May 2013
    Posts
    324
    Threads
    78
    Thank You Posts

    Default Secretary bird

    Attached Images Attached Images
     
    A portrait shot of a Secretary bird taken in Rietvlei Nature Reserve, South Africa, during April 2018. The bird was hunting small prey in tall grass and a completely clear shot was not possible. Trying to remove the grass distractions leaves the image a bit overcooked and unnatural, so we will just have to live with the OOF grass stem across the face for now. Canon 1dX II, 300 f2.8 II + 2xTC III, 1/1000 sec, f/5.6, ISO 200, manual mode, handheld from vehicle. Processed with PS CC.

    Thanks for looking and your valuable comments.

  2. #2
    Lifetime Member Colin Driscoll's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 2009
    Location
    Lake Macquarie, Australia
    Posts
    2,273
    Threads
    415
    Thank You Posts

    Default

    Great portrait, love the shadow of the lashes in the eye.

  3. Thanks Gerhard Weldhagen thanked for this post
  4. #3
    BPN Member
    Join Date
    Jan 2014
    Location
    Lakeland, FL
    Posts
    7,510
    Threads
    2,037
    Thank You Posts

    Default

    Hi Gerhard, I like the image a lot, love the shadows of the eye lashes across the eye. S and H, esposure, and detail look good. Lovely complimenting background. 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

  5. Thanks Gerhard Weldhagen thanked for this post
  6. #4
    Macro and Flora Moderator Jonathan Ashton's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2009
    Location
    Cheshire UK
    Posts
    17,017
    Threads
    2,604
    Thank You Posts

    Default

    A powerful image, details look good, I agree the OOF grass is a minor distraction but those eyelashes make up for it!

  7. Thanks Gerhard Weldhagen thanked for this post
  8. #5
    Forum Participant
    Join Date
    Aug 2008
    Location
    Horsholm, Denmark
    Posts
    84
    Threads
    18
    Thank You Posts

    Default

    A nice portrait with a good background and the head angle of the bird is fine.
    Amazing how detailed the head is and the eyelashes (as mentioned by others) are just fantastic.
    I don't mind the grasses as long as the head is in the clear.

    Regards Steen

  9. Thanks Gerhard Weldhagen thanked for this post
  10. #6
    Forum Participant
    Join Date
    Oct 2014
    Location
    Staten Island, New York
    Posts
    3,124
    Threads
    260
    Thank You Posts

    Default

    I really like the close up look of this shot and the beautiful golden grass. I agree that the grasses in front of the bird are not ideal. On the 5k imac the bird looks a bit soft and I wish more of it was in the depth of field. You had plenty of light as you shot at ISO 200. I think you would have been beneficial had you stopped down to say f9 or 10 and upped your ISO to 640 or 800 so that more of the bird would have been in sharp focus.

  11. Thanks Gerhard Weldhagen thanked for this post
  12. #7
    Forum Participant
    Join Date
    Jul 2009
    Location
    Siliguri,INDIA
    Posts
    180
    Threads
    43
    Thank You Posts

    Default

    Beautiful portrait,love the eye with eyelash shadow.

  13. Thanks Gerhard Weldhagen thanked for this post
  14. #8
    Publisher Arthur Morris's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2007
    Location
    Indian Lake Estates, FL
    Posts
    32,506
    Threads
    1,433
    Thank You Posts

    Default

    Very sharp and I love those lashes!

    with love, artie
    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,

    E-mail me at samandmayasgrandpa@att.net.










  15. Thanks Gerhard Weldhagen thanked for this post
  16. #9
    BPN Member
    Join Date
    Jul 2016
    Location
    Ithaca, NY
    Posts
    10,421
    Threads
    1,708
    Thank You Posts

    Default

    Nice view you caught here. Great background. Good detail.

  17. Thanks Gerhard Weldhagen thanked for this post
  18. #10
    Forum Participant
    Join Date
    May 2013
    Posts
    324
    Threads
    78
    Thank You Posts

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Isaac Grant View Post
    I really like the close up look of this shot and the beautiful golden grass. I agree that the grasses in front of the bird are not ideal. On the 5k imac the bird looks a bit soft and I wish more of it was in the depth of field. You had plenty of light as you shot at ISO 200. I think you would have been beneficial had you stopped down to say f9 or 10 and upped your ISO to 640 or 800 so that more of the bird would have been in sharp focus.
    Thanks Isaac, you make valid points but I failed to mention that I was also driving the vehicle while slowly following the bird along the road verge. That, together with trying to keep the sun angle makes things a tad more complicated and I settled for camera settings that worked. In hindsight it is worthwhile to have some thoughts on improvements for which I am grateful.

  19. #11
    Lifetime Member gail bisson's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2011
    Location
    Nova Scotia
    Posts
    12,731
    Threads
    910
    Thank You Posts

    Default

    Lovely portrait except for that pesky grass across the face.
    I am puzzled by your choice of ISO. I never have an ISO of less than 640 because I always like to have as much of a F stop as possible. An ISO of 800 or 1000, which the 1 DX handles beautifully, would have given you an F stop 9 or 10 and would have given you more DOF.
    My rule of thumb when doing a portrait is a minimum of f 8- I will sacrifice SS or ISO to get as much DOF as possible.
    The lashes are great ( reminds me of hornbill's eyes and lashes) and the light and BG colors are excellent .
    Gail

  20. Thanks Gerhard Weldhagen thanked for this post
  21. #12
    Lifetime Member Stu Bowie's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2008
    Location
    Centurion, South Africa
    Posts
    21,360
    Threads
    1,435
    Thank You Posts

    Default

    Hi Gerhard, strange seeing a 'visitor' posting an image just down the road from me. Great sighting, as these guys are scarce at Rietvlei, especially wandering across those grassy plains. Great HA, and love the eye lashes across the eye. In Africa we have to live with our BG's, so Im fine with the grasses. Killer upper BG makes up for it. Did you get to see the Cheetah's.

  22. Thanks Gerhard Weldhagen thanked for this post
  23. #13
    Forum Participant
    Join Date
    May 2013
    Posts
    324
    Threads
    78
    Thank You Posts

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Stu Bowie View Post
    Hi Gerhard, strange seeing a 'visitor' posting an image just down the road from me. Great sighting, as these guys are scarce at Rietvlei, especially wandering across those grassy plains. Great HA, and love the eye lashes across the eye. In Africa we have to live with our BG's, so Im fine with the grasses. Killer upper BG makes up for it. Did you get to see the Cheetah's.
    Thanks for your kind comments Stu. I saw the cheetahs but they were not interested in a photo session and rapidly disappeared into tall grass. Bummer.

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •  
Web Analytics