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Thread: Northern Harrier

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    Default Northern Harrier

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    Hi all,

    A female northern harrier taken locally this afternoon about 30 min before sunset. Pretty windy today so tough to keep the focus point locked on.

    Camera: Nikon D500
    Lens: 200-500mm f/5.6E
    Specs: 1/2500 f/5.6 ISO 1,600.

    Thanks for looking and commenting on prior posts!
    Alex

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    Wildlife Moderator Steve Kaluski's Avatar
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    Hi Alex I like the 'banking' pose and also the hint of inclusion of the the tree line. Is this a large crop, you don't mention it, as I'm not sure the 'critical' sharpness is there, but hey, you caught it. No idea on distance, but I'm wondering if it was closer, then say f/7.1 may have helped, but then you would need to up the ISO too.

    keep them coming.

    All the best

    TFS
    Steve

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    Lovely light and banking pose. I also like the hint of brighter clouds in the BG as well as the tree line. The eye contact and the head is a real strenght in the image. I might have tried to lift some more detail on the birds back.

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    Hi Alex, Like the banking pose giving a nice dorsal view. Beautiful late afternoon light, and I too like the tree line in the frame. At first I thought the shadow areas on the wings and tail could use a bit of lifting, but there is plenty of detail.

    Geoffrey




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    Thanks all, much appreciated. Steve, it's about 20% off the original frame, so not too much of a crop. The face is sharp at 100% view, but these birds have such fine feathers I'm not sure how well it shows through in the downsized version. I could likely be a little more aggressive with sharpening as well here. I wish I had gone f/7.1, I don't think a higher ISO would have been a problem here since I was pretty close. I usually stick to f/5.6 as I rarely get such close passes and the resulting DOF will be enough to cover the bird as long as I can lock focus.

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    Wildlife Moderator Steve Kaluski's Avatar
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    The face is sharp at 100% view, but these birds have such fine feathers I'm not sure how well it shows through in the downsized version.
    Hi Bud, are you saying at 100% the Raw is sharp in the details in the face? Then you should still be able to retain detail, clarity & sharpness even in the downsizing version. How are you downsizing for web, through Nx, LR, or PS?

    Cheers
    Steve

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    Lifetime Member gail bisson's Avatar
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    Hi Alex,
    You got a really close pass if this is only a 20% crop. Lucky you!
    I love the light but wish that it had been coming from your left to light up the topside.
    Do you use Nik Color Efex? I think that if you ran that at about 3% on the bird, it would really bring out the details on the topside and tail.
    Gail

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    I like the banking pose, composition and OOF tree line at he bottom of the frame. Good suggestions above. It must have been a great experience to have the Harrier fly so close.

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    From the daddy of the harries this shot is perfectly sharp and definitely has the critical details in the head. The light angle was a bit off and didn’t bring out then nice topside colors but it is sharp

    this is is the juvenile harrier l, not many folks get to see this bird and thus aren’t familiar with how the plumage looks

    best
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    Beautiful bank shot Alex, would like to see a bit of increased exposure. And yes, waaaayyy sharp, you lucky guy!

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    BPN Member Bill Dix's Avatar
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    Certainly looks sharp to me, and a beautiful banking pose. What fun to get it so close. A little more light on the topside would have been icing on the cake.

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    Your best of this harrier frames yet. Sweet light with a great pose and killer background.

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    Lifetime Member Mike Poole's Avatar
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    You've got to be stoked with this one Alex! Great banking pose, and although the favoured lighting angle on BPN is directly behind you, I think the off angle light has really added to the dynamism here.

    One for the wall

    Mike

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    Publisher Arthur Morris's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by gail bisson View Post
    Hi Alex,
    You got a really close pass if this is only a 20% crop. Lucky you!
    I love the light but wish that it had been coming from your left to light up the topside.
    Do you use Nik Color Efex? I think that if you ran that at about 3% on the bird, it would really bring out the details on the topside and tail.
    Gail
    Did you mean 3% or 30%. Either way, a percentage of what?

    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.

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    Publisher Arthur Morris's Avatar
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    Looks sharp enough to me. I love that the bird is positioned above the tree line. There are several ways to open up the too dark sections of the wings and the back.

    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.

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    Cheers all, much appreciated. I will take a look at Nik CE as well. Best,

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