Lucky Raven?

[Arthur Morris]

This Common Raven was sitting on a fence post in front of the Bosque HQ building chowing down on the leg and foot of a rabbit about three weeks ago. I photographed it from the car with the Canon 400mmm f/4IS DO lens, the 1.4X II TC, and the EOS-1D MIII. As my BLUBB was still in storage at the Super 8 most of the images were not sharp. ISO 400. Evaluative metering +2/3 stop: 1/400 sec. at f/7.1. (1/400 is a bit on the slow side with a magnification of 16.64X....) I would have done better wide open (at f/5.6).

IAC, this one is sharp enough for me.

All comments welcome. Don't be shy. I am here to learn too.

[Jackie Schuknecht]

Unlucky rabbit:( Sharpness looks fine to me. Love the shades of black in the raven. Exposure looks terrific. Very nice Artie.

[Ilija Dukovski]

I really like the details and shades on the feathers.
It seems next to impossible to me to get such great exposure
of a black bird, especially with a light BG.
The BG color and the hints of color (at least on my monitor)
on the bird go together really well.
Why f7.1, not f5.7 when you say you would do better with f5.6?

Cheers, Ilija

[Arthur Morris]

I really like the details and shades on the feathers. It seems next to impossible to me to get such great exposure of a black bird, especially with a light BG. The BG color and the hints of color (at least on my monitor) on the bird go together really well. Why f7.1, not f5.6 when you say you would do better with f5.6? Cheers, Ilija

Hi Ilija, Where are you from? Getting the right EXP with digital is easy as long as you know how to evaluate the histogram--what you want is to always have data in the right-most box and to push that data as far to the right as possible without having any flashing highlights (or at best, having a very few flashing pixels).

The exposure and the image looks pleasing because it was cloudy. Getting pleasing images of black birds in full sun more than an hour or so after sunrise or before sunset is near-impossible.

Why f/7.1 instead of f/5.6? Carelessness and failing to realize that I was working with such high mmagnification.

Thanks both for your comments.

[Ilija Dukovski]

Arthur,

I live in Newton MA (Boston area). I moved to the US from Macedonia
(former Yugoslavia) about 12 years ago.

Considering the histogram/highlights I'm tempted to say
"Oh, I knew that!" but I will not ;) In any case it is such
a difference from the good old film. I cannot blame it to my
lack of talent when I burn the whites anymore.

You are right, at full sun black birds too often come completely flat
unless you can get the iridescent (interference not pigment) coloration
that many of them show. You actually got it on this Raven which is quite
fantastic.

Considering the f7.1, AHA! Even the masters... sometimes...
Actually, point it out for us is what makes a master after all...:)

Cheers, Ilija

[Ramon M. Casares]

The cloudy day light is the BEST for black birds, I always try to work on cloudy days when photographing Cowbirds here in Argentina, here the BG, the pose, the plus of the rabbit leg and detail are stunning, but what I loved the most is the terrific layered feathers that gives an extra touch of textures to the shot. I don´t love the perch, but I don´t think it looks bad at all. :) Congratulations Artie!

[Arthur Morris]

Ililja wrote: "Considering the f7.1, AHA! Even the masters... sometimes... Actually, point it out for us is what makes a master after all...:)

Actually, full time pros make many more mistakes than amateurs because we are out there so much more....

[Jonathan Michael Ashton]

Great shot Artie, looks spot on to me, I have however put it on my desktop and gone to Curves. I marked the central point and a point about 2/3 way down and one 2/3 way up. I lowered each point one or two points using the down arrow. It gives just a little more contrast and I like the effect. I have also now deleted the image from my PC.
By the way I am glad to note you make more mistakes than I do..'cos I made a few today myself!

Jon

[Arthur Morris]

Thanks Jon. I would love to see you repost the image with your changes.

[john crookes]

With everything being said i agree that the image is sharp as postede just seams to be a bit off color wise so i did a black point white point conversion ( since the image does not have an embeded profile , it is the only way to start an image and then adjust ) i did a bit of Viveza to bring out some color and contrast and then I did a selective sharpening on the eye and some feathers

[Arthur Morris]

Wow, the repost is a huge improvement. Thank you sir. I especially like what you did with the color and contrast.

[john crookes]

your welcome Artie But please No Sir just plain ole John will do fine

John

[Jonathan Michael Ashton]

Thanks Jon. I would love to see you repost the image with your changes.

Here goes, all I have done is to make a lowering of the curve, nothing sophisticated just a couple of clicks of the down arrow on highlights mid points and shadows.

Jon

[Arthur Morris]

Thanks Jon. The rabbit's foot surely looks better than in the ORIG. I prefer plain old John's version. Hey, plain old John, just how old are you? I am 62.

[john crookes]

55 this year Artie

[Arthur Morris]

Ah, a youngster. No "old man" for you!