Sandhill Crane colt stretching one wing

[Arthur Morris]

This image was created at Indian Lake Estates on March 30, 2019. I used the hand held Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 500mm f/5.6E PF ED VR lens and my back-up Nikon D850.. ISO: 800. Matrix metering at about +2/3: 1/1000 sec. at f/6.3 in Manual mode resulted in a very bright NEF file. Auto1 WB at seven forty-two am.

One up from the center Group AF was active at the moment of exposure. The array was centered on the right side of the base of the colt’s neck.


To learn more about ILE and the creation of this image see the Look Ma, I Grew a Wing blog post http://www.birdsasart-blog.com/2019/...le-this-april/http://www.birdsasart-blog.com/2019/...le-this-april/

As for the image, all comments are appreciated so don't be shy :)

with love, artie

[David Roach]

Love the low angle, composition, light, colors and details. TFS

[John Mack]

Light is sweet with a killer background. Like the wing stretch. A touch more below would be nice. You figure out why we get the two hand slapping dudes when you put a 5 in the time?

[Paul Burdett]

Another Artie masterpiece! Love the light, colours,composition, BG, FFD and overall sharpness. Love how you waited for just the right time to capture the wing. If I had to nitpic I'd remove those three circular shapes at the bottom. That D850/500PF combo is definitely on my bucket list.

[Isaac Grant]

Pose is nice and so is the background. The bird looks soft to me. I never can get a baby bird to look right but maybe that is just a function of their feathers? The grass in front of the right leg looks over sharpened and the right leg (birds left) looks like it was over exposed and has no details. Looks very different than the other leg which has plenty of details. I see that it is not in sharp focus but also does not have the same sheen to it.

[Dorian Anderson]

Your shooting angle is perfect, and you nailed the focus on the eye, but I wished you'd been at f/8 or narrowed to have sharper focus across the bird, particularly across the legs. Otherwise this is a fabulous shot. He really seems larger than life.

[Jonathan Ashton]

Cute image, I may have been tempted to adjust the colour temp very slightly, (I appreciate the time of day it was taken), - perhaps just a tad too much yellow/orange especially in the grasses?? I may be totally wrong in this assumption!
I looked at the link and I was a little surprised you went for f6.3, I would have gone for a smaller aperture at that magnification. The chick is large in the frame but I think it presents well.
This is a personal thing with me but I cannot see the wisdom in posting such tall images, I wonder how many people can see this image without scrolling or reducing the frame size?
Sorry if this sounds rather critical it is not meant to be, I think it is a pleasing image.

[Arthur Morris]

Cute image, I may have been tempted to adjust the colour temp very slightly, (I appreciate the time of day it was taken), - perhaps just a tad too much yellow/orange especially in the grasses?? I may be totally wrong in this assumption!
I looked at the link and I was a little surprised you went for f6.3, I would have gone for a smaller aperture at that magnification. The chick is large in the frame but I think it presents well.
This is a personal thing with me but I cannot see the wisdom in posting such tall images, I wonder how many people can see this image without scrolling or reducing the frame size?
Sorry if this sounds rather critical it is not meant to be, I think it is a pleasing image.

Thanks for commenting Jon. I find your comments on the color pedantic and somewhat unnecessary. The image was created about 15 minutes after sunrise. And your wish for more d-o-f makes no sense to me :)

with love, artie

[Arthur Morris]

Pose is nice and so is the background. The bird looks soft to me. I never can get a baby bird to look right but maybe that is just a function of their feathers? The grass in front of the right leg looks over sharpened and the right leg (birds left) looks like it was over exposed and has no details. Looks very different than the other leg which has plenty of details. I see that it is not in sharp focus but also does not have the same sheen to it.

More pedantic comments. Assuming that you mean the grasses in front of the bird's LEFT leg, they appear sharper than the other grasses because they were a bit in front of the bird's leg on the same plane as the bird's face. And there is less detail in the bird's left leg because it was behind the plane of focus. And yes, baby bird's have fluffy feathers. You and others might consider spent more time looking at and enjoying each image as a whole and less time looks for minuscule detail; minutiae does not add anything to a good critique. Can you say nitpicking?

with love, artie

[Gabriela Plesea]

I think it's awesome, Sir Arthur Beautiful light, love the colours on this little one and its golden (and very long) legs. BG is great. Techs look spot on to me and POV is superb. Nice detail where it matters.

Really cute little fellow Enjoyed viewing, very much...

Talking about DoF - I have had problem for years, never enough... So I won't dare nitpick...

Somehow I still prefer the D5 to the D850, but this is because the ISO capabilities. Pleased to see how well the D850 performs in good light...

Warmest regards from QG,