Another portrait of the male peregrine

[arash_hazeghi]

Here is another frame of this handsome male falcon. I got may frames of this bird but the majority of them are deleted now because of the prominent bands on both legs, something I personally don't like. I waited for him until he tucked his feet in so that the bands are not visible.


Shot with D5 and 600E FL + TC-14E III F/5.6 1/3200sec ISO 3200 hand held and processed with C1P hope you like it

[Paul Burdett]

Superb in every way, and always inspirational. Is the D5 that good at high iso noise, or is it the noise reduction in C1P? (or a combo of the two). TFS

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi Arash, nice presentation, especially with showing the talons. Having the more soft 'muted' coloured BKG adds to the separation and so any noise, unless the image was 'lifted' would be almost zero, however I would just reduce the blue coming through in the plumage and eye.

TFS
Steve

[Aditya Sridhar]

Great shot Arash! Love the pose and the talons. Excellent image quality for ISO 3200 - that D5 is something else. Agree with Steve's critique. No other nits from me.

[arash_hazeghi]

Superb in every way, and always inspirational. Is the D5 that good at high iso noise, or is it the noise reduction in C1P? (or a combo of the two). TFS

Hi Paul the D5 excels at high ISO and I batter than any camera I had owned at these high ISO’s. At the same time the correct processing is also necessary to retain the IQ and dine details at high iso which is possible thanks to C1P.

Hope me this helps

[arash_hazeghi]

Hi Arash, nice presentation, especially with showing the talons. Having the more soft 'muted' coloured BKG adds to the separation and so any noise, unless the image was 'lifted' would be almost zero, however I would just reduce the blue coming through in the plumage and eye.

TFS
Steve

Hi Steve thanks. I didn’t quite get what you wanted to say. Noise on the bird has nothing to do with the BG. The BG should have separate NR to remove the noise. I usually apply heavier NR on the BG to make sure it is smooth and creamy (but never blur it). I then apply calibrated NR to the bird. The calibration process is able to distinguish grain from fine details and suppress the noise. All of this is explained in my PP guide.

All of this only works when the RAW is 1) tack sharp and 2) reasonably clean to begin with. The image above is also less than 40% of the original. Something like this would not have been possible with the D850 which is significantly noisier than the D5 at these ISOs for example

The plumage color looks correct on my NEC reference screen BTW

Best

[Steve Kaluski]

What I mean was and hopefully this clarify's the comment - that as the BKG is quite 'light, soft & pale' and the need for any NR at ISO3200 is, I would think, zero or very minimal, but if you want that smooth look fine. My concerns have always been that folk use NR below 1000 when really the image doesn't need it, or, it's used with a heavy hand and the BKG look/appears false.

All of this only works when the RAW is 1) tack sharp and 2) reasonably clean to begin with

Absolutely.

[gail bisson]

Beautiful bird and BG.
IQ rocks.
I know that you will say that the purple/blue cast that I see on the bird is from my monitor, but there really is a blue/purple cast on the dark feathers.
Most of us do not have an NEC monitor so most of us see the color cast that you do not see. A pity really...
And yes, my iMAC is color calibrated with Spyder.
Not trying to pick a fight, just telling you what I see.
Gail

[arash_hazeghi]

What I mean was and hopefully this clarify's the comment - that as the BKG is quite 'light, soft & pale' and the need for any NR at ISO3200 is, I would think, zero or very minimal, but if you want that smooth look fine. My concerns have always been that folk use NR below 1000 when really the image doesn't need it, or, it's used with a heavy hand and the BKG look/appears false.



Absolutely.

Hi Steve got it, at ISO 3200 even the bright BG like the one above needs some NR. That's because the RAW demosaic sharpening will bring out the grain and our eyes are most sensitive to grain on uniform areas. Here I have applied NR to the BG. if this were ISO 1000 you are right that likely no NR would have been necessary

best

[arash_hazeghi]

Beautiful bird and BG.
IQ rocks.
I know that you will say that the purple/blue cast that I see on the bird is from my monitor, but there really is a blue/purple cast on the dark feathers.
Most of us do not have an NEC monitor so most of us see the color cast that you do not see. A pity really...
And yes, my iMAC is color calibrated with Spyder.
Not trying to pick a fight, just telling you what I see.
Gail

Hi Gail,

that's how this male peregrine looks like, I was there so only I know what it should look like :) I am looking at the image on my Dell work monitor and even on this the color look 100% true to the scene as I saw it so it must be a matter perception or non-familiarity with the local specie perhaps.

On a separate note, I think you should consider buying a real reference monitor, don't tell me it's expensive because you spend so much $$$ on gear and travel so you can afford a monitor :) You spend 13K on a lens then shoot yourself in the foot by viewing and editing your images on a sub-par monitor... I don't get it... it's a pity you'll never know what you're missing...

best

[gail bisson]

[QUOTE=arash_hazeghi;1217805]Hi Gail,

On a separate note, I think you should consider buying a real reference monitor, don't tell me it's expensive because you spend so much $$$ on gear and travel so you can afford a monitor :) You spend 13K on a lens then shoot yourself in the foot by viewing and editing your images on a sub-par monitor... I don't get it... it's a pity you'll never know what you're missing..."

I laughed out loud when i read this Arash! In a good way! Yes, I can afford 1 or 2 and maybe even 3 NEC monitors but why bother? If your Dell work computer is rendering colors 100% perfectly then I should buy a Dell and spend the extra money on a trip!! Hahaha! We are both so fussy but in different ways. Let's agree to disagree my friend! And I will agree that your peregrines probably look a bit different than out peregrines!
Gail

[arash_hazeghi]

[QUOTE=gail bisson;1217822]

Hi Gail,

On a separate note, I think you should consider buying a real reference monitor, don't tell me it's expensive because you spend so much $$$ on gear and travel so you can afford a monitor :) You spend 13K on a lens then shoot yourself in the foot by viewing and editing your images on a sub-par monitor... I don't get it... it's a pity you'll never know what you're missing..."

I laughed out loud when i read this Arash! In a good way! Yes, I can afford 1 or 2 and maybe even 3 NEC monitors but why bother? If your Dell work computer is rendering colors 100% perfectly then I should buy a Dell and spend the extra money on a trip!! Hahaha! We are both so fussy but in different ways. Let's agree to disagree my friend! And I will agree that your peregrines probably look a bit different than out peregrines!
Gail

Ah the devil is in the detail

I never said Dell rendered colors 100% perfectly for every picture. I said the colors in this picture look right even on the Dell monitor. these two aren't equal statements :)

[John Mack]

Great frame here. Really like the pose and nice view of the feet we have. Background is killer and the perch is nice as well. Do you ETTR in low light at high ISOs or just worry about noise reduction in post? Also if anybody wants to send me a NEC monitor just PM me.

[Tim Foltz]

Arash nice looking frame of the peregrine, looks like Monte's perch paid off.

-Tim

[arash_hazeghi]

Arash nice looking frame of the peregrine, looks like Monte's perch paid off.

-Tim

Indeed Tim, Dave and Glen were there too, we had little action and sh** light and many many photographers... if it weren't for this perch it would have been quite disappointing.

cheers
Arash

[arash_hazeghi]

Great frame here. Really like the pose and nice view of the feet we have. Background is killer and the perch is nice as well. Do you ETTR in low light at high ISOs or just worry about noise reduction in post? Also if anybody wants to send me a NEC monitor just PM me.

Hi John, I try to expose the frame correctly in the camera but sometimes I under expose up to a stop to protect the whites because if they are blown recovery is tough (I pulled up this shot by 1/2 stop in the dark areas) the concept of ETTR is somewhat obsolete and doesn't apply to EXMOR sensor technology that Nikon's have.... The key to getting clean detailed high ISO files with Nikon is the Capture One Pro software that I use plus the D5 sensor that is pretty good at these ISO's. The D850 would have a tough time at ISO 3200 on the other hand even with optimal processing. Stay tuned for my review of the D5

[Mervyn Marsh]

Hi Arash, nice looking shot, looks very clean, well done on managing to get a shot without the tags showing, Cheers, Merv

[Dorian Anderson]

Another excellent image of this bird! Great stare and background. Only thing I'd want is a touch more DOF (maybe f/7.1) to pick up a bit more detail on those exposed feet, but you were short on light as is. Great result regardless.