Still trying to raise my BIF skills. Under wing shadows are a real challenge. All help and comments are appreciated.
40D 100-400 @ 400, ISO 400, 1/1000 sec @ 5.6
dave, looks like you are doing a fine job to me!! super sharp, lots of underwing detail and a fish to boot!! nice one! and i think the secret is to put yourself in a position to take lots and hope you get lucky with something real special like a head turn looking at you!!
Hi Dave,
I like the capture. I like the raised wing position and the details. For my taste, I would have liked to have seen the under wing a tad lighter...was flash used? if not; did you compensate on the exposure? In captures like this, if the subject is flying over sand, snow or water, the light is reflected by these natural reflectors. If you do not have the help of Mother Nature, you normally can dial up a +0.3 to +2.0 EV depending on the lighting conditions to light up the under wings on the dark birds...
You have a sharp eye...:) I would also recommend adding canvas to the top and to the right of the frame to give the bird more room...congrats...:cool:
Nice. The underwing detail/lighting is fine -- I might have been inclined to keep it a shade darker, but that's just a personal preference. There appear to be a couple of masking glitches on the wings (arrows).
One little retouch "trick" for blue skies is to lighten the bottom part. I did it here by applying a white/transparent gradient on a blank layer in soft light mode.
Very nice Dave. The head and eye are nice and sharp and I don't see any blown high lights which i find quite hard with white feathers on sunny days. Well done.
Dave
Thanks to all for the guideance. I will file this information away and use it in future shoots. Gus, I appreciate the tip on using nature for help. This guy had just come off the river and was flying over dark ground. No compensation was used. There was no flash. David, I'll need to go back and check the raw file as I didn't mask, just selective adjustments in lightroom and noise reduction. I see your point on the tip feather Hmmm.
Dave for dealing with shadows try obtaining a good sun angle and keep the motor pressed !!! In this image would have like seeing a different far wing position. I like how you got the bird before it reached you position. Sharp and well done !!!
Thanks Denise, Nonda, and Alfred. This was actually the last of a six shot burst. Each has its own strong point but most would require a major crop. I appreciate the help and i'll work on the files to see what I can get.
PS: Denise, this came from Conowingo Dam and there were at least 30- 35 adults and immatures there that day. We plan to go back before activity drops off mid January.
Dave I didn't know you shot this at Conowingo- You used a 100-400mm-Excellent!! Heard you had a good turn-out of Eagles! I hope to get there soon-I wasted a trip up to NY -saw only 1 Imm. and 2 Adults-both too far w/ a 500mm-
PS- When you post try to get it as close to 200kb it will help your images look better! Fabs posted a save for web tip in educational forum-hope that helps
Last edited by denise ippolito; 01-01-2009 at 07:22 PM.
I saw your message posted in the Mid-Atlantic forum. Actually, the big period for Conowingo is the end of November which I missed as well. There well were over 100 eagles there.
Anyway, this is nice crisp shot and the captured fish really adds to the photo. I agree with the other comments about the left wing position but it is very hard to get a perfect shot. BIF skills comes with a lot of attempts and a lot of deleted shots. Well done.
Eagle and Catch
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