Another Carmine from the Okavango

[Chris van Rooyen]

Another image rom my recent trip to the Okavango. I found that although difficult, the MK III managed to follow the bee-eaters in flight with reasonable success. I used centre sensor, AF Servo with expanded focus points.

Camera Model: Canon EOS-1D Mark III
Date/Time: 2008:10:27 09:43:13
Shutter speed: 1/2500 sec
Aperture: 6.3
Exposure mode: Tv
Exposure compensation: +1/3
Flash: Off
Metering mode: Multi-segment
ISO: 800
Focal length: 500mm

[Sabyasachi Patra]

Chris,
This is lovely. The Carmine bee eater is a lovely bird with bright colours. You have got it against a pretty diffused background making the colours pop up. Lot of details. The insect in the mouth is like icing on the cake. Thanks for sharing.

Cheers,
Sabyasachi

[Tony Whitehead]

This is amazing, Chris. Spread wings, fanned tail, catchlight and prey. Only comment is whether toning down the sharpening on the tight wing primaries and tail feather shafts is an option.

[Melvin Grey]

First - great dramatic image of a lovely bird, all the good points have already been listed.
Surely the contrasting lines on the right primaries and tail feathers are reflections from the hard shiney feather shafts - nothing to do with 'sharpening'. Even if they were out of focus the light reflection lines would still be apparent.
Melvin

[Tony Whitehead]

You are right, Melvin, the contrasting lines are due to light reflecting off the shiny shafts. If you enlarge the image you will see (especially on the lower tail feathers) that there is a bright white line running down the shaft with a pair of dark lines running either side of it. This is the result of sharpening for output (in this case web presentation). Sharpening looks for areas of contrast difference and then accentuates that difference increasing the perception of sharpness. The reflections are there - sharpening accentuates them.

[Ramon M. Casares]

This is terrific! The light, the pose, the head turn, the prey, the colurs and detail are all simply outstanding. I think those lines in the primaries and tail feathers could be town down a little by not applying USM to those specifics areas, but other than that, I love this shot!

[Melvin Grey]

You are right, Melvin, the contrasting lines are due to light reflecting off the shiny shafts. If you enlarge the image you will see (especially on the lower tail feathers) that there is a bright white line running down the shaft with a pair of dark lines running either side of it. This is the result of sharpening for output (in this case web presentation). Sharpening looks for areas of contrast difference and then accentuates that difference increasing the perception of sharpness. The reflections are there - sharpening accentuates them.

First of all I would like to apologise to Chris for using his fabulous image for a discussion on sharpening but thank you Tony for your explanation of your original comment about 'toning down the sharpening etc.' I must admit I was not enlarging the image and, on my 19 inch general work monitor, the web image looked fine.
Melvin

[Juan Aragonés]

Chris the bird´s pose can not be better, the light is very good, the bee eater is in perfect plumage condition, colors.., sharpness, BG, all is SUPERB in this image. Too bad that you couldn´t get a neat eye contact.... of the bee:D

Can´t wait to see your next bee-eater post, please keep them coming :)

[Mark Schmitt]

Absolutely killer image. I don't want to contribute to any arguments here, but Tony is correct about the "characteristics what sharpenning is". I fall victim to it myself. I have further noticed that most of the evaluators are very versed at these affectations; it is why I have become a member of this site. This is critisism that only helps for the improvement of photography. Smashing image.

[Albert Froneman]

Awesome image mate!! Tony I think what complicates the matter here is that the central shaft of the feathers are in fact a dark coulour themselves. As can be seen on the bottom wing and the base of the tail feathers. I think the typical sharpening halos that you are describing might therefore appear amplified. It would be interesting to see that region of the unsharpened full resolution image and what it looks like if those regions are masked from the output sharpening.

[Chris van Rooyen]

Thanks for the inputs guys:-). Must say i never noticed it before, I will in future make sure these areas are not oversharpened. Great to get this type of input.

[Jim Neiger]

WOW! Great image! The wing position, colors, and bg are all fantastic. Getting it with prey is an over the top bonus. Well done!

BTW: I think you may find that turning off AF expansion will be helpfull when photographing flyers against varied bgs.

[Glenn Bartley]

Just awesome! What a pose.

[Krijn Trimbos]

You certainly are cleaning up on these carmine bee eaters Chris! Love the pose, backside view, food item and BG. Green with envy here!

[Johan Pieterse]

Excellent as always, Chris. Great colours, detail and exposure.

[Fabs Forns]

Impressive flight, Chris.
About the sharpening in the wings, I wrote a little tutorial to the effect:

http://birdphotographers.net/forums/...ead.php?t=1242

[Mike Veltri]

Very nice, love the wing spread.

[Axel Hildebrandt]

Very cool in all respects. I like the wing position, details, eye contact and BG. The food item adds to it.