Final view in sequence...

[David Roach]

EOS R EF400DO I 2xtc II f11 1/2700 ISO 1600

This is the third (and last) post of about 10 usable frames I got from this opportunity. As I spotted this beauty,the sun was very low with long shadows everywhere. Everything around this bird ( water and plants) was in deep late afternoon shadow except the top part of this bird which was in that late evening spotlight. I had previously been working with mostly mid tone surroundings. I was (like most of the time) in continuous AF mode. So I pointed the focus box and turned the handy exp compensation ring till the histogram in the viewfinder was far to the right but not overblown(with mirrorless no chimping needed). Hit the shutter and tried to keep the box on plane with the eye. A few minutes after those 15 frames the complete bird was in shadow. On this one Artie, the eye is a little more turned to the sensor plane. Enough to get it sharp at f11. On the last post I mistakenly adjusted the EXP with an unintended selection giving the blue areas on the edges of the bird. All three posts are full frame on horizontal with some off bottom because of lower shadows on the bird and the top for composition. It was fun having a limited time, in terms of light, to try to go for this effect.
ps
Artie this was created at green cay with lens hood removed to just image through the cracks of the railing from the floor of the boardwalk.

[Randy Stout]

David:

Very nice. Lots of curves , head/neck, feathers, shoulder, works very well.

Cheers

Randy

[John Mack]

My favorite from the series. The S curve the neck makes is great. Feather detail looks very good. Love the black background with bird in the sun.

[kevin Hice]

David you killed this. wonderful.I can't sat enough thanks for posting.

[dankearl]

Terrific...
The only thing I can think of to improve this would be to maybe just soften it a tad.
I know, everyone likes sharp as can be, but a version with this smoothes a bit would look nice.

[greg cowle]

Very nicely done. Given the artistic nature of the frame I think Dan's comment on softening is interesting.

[David Roach]

Terrific...
The only thing I can think of to improve this would be to maybe just soften it a tad.
I know, everyone likes sharp as can be, but a version with this smoothes a bit would look nice.

Just the most minimum of sharpening for you two (I kinda agree). Could go with none or just eye/lores sharpened. As always, thanks for suggestions.
Peace,
David

[Joseph Przybyla]

Hey David, I have looked at this several times, also your previous post that Artie commented on. I think I prefer your previous post, a little less harsh but this one is certainly dramatic... it makes a statement. The curve of the neck and the feather layering are quite nice. A couple steps to your right would have brought the bill, eye and side of the head parallel to the sensor plane. On my display I see a blue artifact to the left of the head, probably from trying to darken the background. If you go to places where these birds are tame and accustomed to seeing people images like this are much easier to make, kudos for shooting through cracks in the railing but that limits how you can move and setup. The birds are still wild, just not flighty when seeing people. The guide to bird photography locations in middle Florida that Artie and I are working on has tips regarding approaching birds to get close. Keep them coming, thank you for sharing.