MOTIF: To Have or To Have Not

[Desmond Chan]

D300 200-400 + 1.4TC @ 550 mm; manual exposure mode ISO 3200 f16 1/400 sec.

I guess I was worrying about not having enough dof after a recent flight shot disaster :o on the same kind of bird. As a result, I ended up shooting with ISO 3200 in order to get a decent shutter speed (lens on the edge of a window of a wooden hut). Therefore, reduced noise, cropped top and bottom for composition purpose, tweaked white balance and colors, and, finally, sharpened. It was a cloudy day after all.

C&C welcome !!

Thanks for looking !!!

[Lance Peters]

Hi Desmond - not sure if it is my monitor or not - but this looks a little soft and a bit funky around the edges of the bird - like the NR hasn't been applied right to the edges of the bird or something.

:)

[Alfred Forns]

HI Desmond That is one neat pose and don't even want to know what he is thinking !!!

I think the noise Lnace refers to is the funky way the water looks at times. I have lots just like it and not sure the reason? Something I have tried and has made a difference is selecting the bg then increasing contrast. Love that raised foot and look !!!

[Oscar Zangroniz]

Great capture Desmond. Very nice pose and background.
Regards,

[Desmond Chan]

I think the noise Lnace refers to is the funky way the water looks at times. I have lots just like it and not sure the reason?

You could be right, Al. Sometimes I wonder if it has to do with the quality of the water. Or may be being oof could also make the water look that way. Perhaps the high ISO has to do with it, too. And could also be the lens, too, as I did notice sometimes the bookeh of the 200-400 looks funny. Don't really know. I ran the pic through Neat Image and no mask was used afterward to cause different results in different areas. One thing I sure did and usually do is to sharpen selectively. In this case I certainly did not sharpen the water.


Anyhow, thanks folks!

[Amy DeStefanis]

Hi Desmond,

I feel for you on the high ISO! I have been trying to recover from some noise myself. I had turned "High ISO noise reduction" off on my camera, and was shooting at 800/1600 this morning.

After having stared at my own disasters today, I'm thinking yours is looking pretty good!!!!

The feathers look pretty sharp to me. A tad over-sharpened? maybe??? I would be happy with it, and what a pose! That's one intense bird!

:)

Amy

[Harold Davis]

man..it really stood up well at 3200! i like the pose, desmond. nice job!

[Gus Cobos]

Congratulations Desmond, on a job well done. I like the pose and intense hunting look...:cool:

[Alfred Forns]

Desmond I have images with the same type water going to to Canon cameras (different models) and all sort of lenses. Don't think is specific for the 200-400 at all Will need to check the ISO see if there is a pattern !!!

[Desmond Chan]

Don't think is specific for the 200-400 at all

Now I can sleep better :):)

[Katie Rupp]

Great pose, Desmond, so intense and you can feel the imminent strike.