Eagle Launching

[Larry Daniel]

Got lucky enough to catch this eagle launching from its perch. Nikon D3, f8, 1500th sec. ISO 800

[Ramon M. Casares]

The light was not ideal, specially for a black and white bird, resulting in some hot whites and some really dark areas, and although the pose is terrific, in my pc it looks a bit soft. Have great day andkeep them comming!

[Steve Maxson]

Ramon makes some excellent points, Larry. Also, I would suggest removing the tree on the right edge as it doesn't really add anything to the image.

[John Blumenkamp]

Hi Larry... always a rush to watch, and then photograph, these birds leaving a perch. I agree that removing the upper right branch would work. Looks like it could be sharper (don't know if that's from downsizing or focusing at the time of the capture?) Hope you've been making more images in sweeter light of these eagles and we can see the results here soon.

[Larry Daniel]

Thanks for the comments. I like the taller part of the tree, to show the eagles environment and add a bit of depth. I guess photography is kind of personal? On my display I can see the eagles pupil, and did not want to over sharpen the rest of the bird and create a halo. I lack a lot in the Photoshop skills department.

[Arthur Morris]

Hi Larry, Yes, photography and the compositional choices that we make are personal and you are always the boss. In this case, I would agree that the right hand branch adds nothing and does distract a bit. I like the wing position and the pose but as others have hinted, the image is nowhere near sharp--the image is simply not focused correctly--and the image quality is poor. Could you post a JPEG of the image that represents how it looked when it came out of the camera?

[Larry Daniel]

Thanks Art,
Here is the original NEF, converted to jpg. Warts and all.
:)

[Arthur Morris]

hi Larry, Thanks for that. It helps us help you to get better. The whites are way blown out, probably unsavable. With Nikon stuff you need to underexpose a lot more than Canon to save the whites. The large crop explains in part the image quality issues but do know that the original capture is nowhere close to sharp on the bird.

When you converted the NEF to a TIFF or whatever (assuming that NEF is a RAW file), you could have converted it darker to try and save the whites. What are you using to convert?

Best way to learn would be for you to get copies of ABP and ABP II.... Tons of great info. They are on sale here: http://www.birdsasart.com/books.html

You need lots of help and we are here for you but studying good material and looking at lots of great images is the way to go.

[Larry Daniel]

I used NX2.1.1 to convert the NEF and do some selective sharpening, etc. Then to CS3 to get rid of the phone wire. Lack of total sharpness may be due to the 2x TC or having VR turned on.

Thanks

[Arthur Morris]

I am not sure how to do it but there is likely a way to try to recover detail in the over-exposed whites. The total lack of sharpness is not due to having VR on. It was most likely operator error. What lens were you using the 2X with? (Please include all the tech data with your posts; thanks.)

[Larry Daniel]

Art,
The lens was the 400mm VR with a 2x TC.

No detail left in the white head. I used CS3 to change it in PP to a very light gray.

Thanks for the information.