BCNH Flight Profile

[WIlliam Maroldo]

Sony A-700~Sony 70-400G~400mm~ISO 640~1/1600sec/F8~manual exposure 5-27-09 6:30PM, Brays Bayou, overcast the way I like it, Houston, Texas
I wanted a simple flight capture without all that complicated head angles stuff, so what could be simpler than a profile? Although perfectly fine, the background had a little detail, so I applied a Gaussian blur to it. Simplified that! Sure, I got plenty of those flying toward me stuff, but I think the profile has its place.
Comments and critique welcomed~Bill

[Desmond Chan]

Wow, that's unreal !! In a way I like it because it just looks so good ! At the same time though, this bird looks as smooth as a china doll that I can't help hoping to see more feather details so that it more looks like birds that I know of.

Still one **** of an image IMO.

[WIlliam Maroldo]

Desmond: Isn't there always a down side? You have terrible high contrast light and terrible exposure problems, and dark shadows and blown whites, but great details. Then soft subdued light, exposure a piece of cake, but details? A bit subdued like the light. Am I correct here, or is this just my imagination? I might add that although the exposure was right, it was a somewhat darker at 6:30 with the overcast than I would have liked. I would have preferred ISO 400.regards~Bill

[Nagesh Mula]

I like this image very much. The softness here elevates the evening mood. Congratulations!!

[Desmond Chan]

Desmond: Isn't there always a down side?

You're right.

I realize that nothing happens the way we like it in the real world. And I likely am unable to produce an image like what you are presenting here. I apologize if my critique came out as if it was about your techniques. I only intended to do what Artie says here:

...you see an image, you like it or not. Simply stating what you like about an image and what you do not like about an image is a valid and valuable critique. Even a young child would be capable of doing that... [snip]...Gimme a break. Can you tell me that folks see an image and have no reaction....

in one of his replies to this thread:

http://www.birdphotographers.net/for...ad.php?t=25608

[WIlliam Maroldo]

Desmond; I can find no reason to aplogize. I am glad you liked the image. I must mention that what I find most important about critique is that it often points out things that I somehow failed to notice, and , indeed, this is often technique. In almost all cases I look beyond the image that I've posted and more of how I can improve in the future, and I find BPN and input of members invaluable. regards~Bill

[Kobus Tollig]

Great pose with great bg and comp. I would sharpen the head a bit more

[Randy Stout]

Bill:

Lovely image, soft light. As shown, you really do have the evening like feeling.

You might consider a slight adjustment of the midtone slider to brighten it a little. That brings up the feathers nicely, and IMO helps the bird pop off the background. It does change the feel a bit, so your call.

For my tastes, the cropping is tight. I would add a bit to top,bottom and right. Again, personal call, but he looks a bit confined to my eye.

HA works for me here.

Randy

[Gyorgy Szimuly]

Very interesting image. Nice pose, nice bg and well framed.
How do you see Sony's AF fastness? Is it ok for these flying subjects?
I have made a little more sharpening with the smart sharpen filter (amount 30%, radius 0.2) and the result looks to be pleasant. I find the bg a little too smooth. :)

Szimi

[Arthur Morris]

Never heard of the camera or lens but I love the image, esp. the perfect wing position. Wish only that the bird were not angling ever so slightly away from you.

For the repost I did some Eye Doctor work and sharpened all of the wing and body feathers with a QM and a contrast mask (Filter/Sharpen/Unsharp Mask at15/65/0).

[Stu Bowie]

Bill, great show of the wing on the down stroke, with lovely detail. Overall, well exposed, and love their eyes. A bit tight on the right, and Artie's repost works well with the higher contrast.

[Paul Ricciardi]

Hey Bill, nice capture here, Art's repost really makes it pop.
Exposure is spot on here, keep up the good work

[Ramon M. Casares]

Great in every way, I only wish that the other wing was visible.
Big congratulations!

[Arthur Morris]

Great in every way, I only wish that the other wing was visible.
Big congratulations!

With the near-wing in the full downstroke and the bird almost perfectly parallel to the imaging sensor how could you see the far wing? And why would you want to????

[Ramon M. Casares]

Just a matter of taste Artie, I like it better when the other wing is a bit visible so the bird doesn't look like it has one wing. If the bird were flying just a tad towards the camera or even giving a perfect profile to the sensor it wolud be visible and IMHO that woud've improve this already great image.

[Arthur Morris]

Thanks for explaining that better. I understand now.

[Ramon M. Casares]

No problem Artie :)

[Juan Carlos Vindas]

Arthur's repost definitively improves this great image.

[WIlliam Maroldo]

I really appreciate the comments and reposts! I agree with Arthur about the far wing, and why would you want to see it? To me , thats for another image. However, I have noticed exactly what Ramon is referring to in other images, and did think it was a problem, yet for some reason not a problem here.
In these low contrast images it appears that increasing contrast and sharpening will be called for. Very usefull information indeed.
The comment about the background being too smooth; good point and something I'll have to think about.
About the autofocus speed, and the lens. The lens is extraordinary in its image resolution(detail), and has only been available 4 or 5 months in the US. It has an ultrasonic motor that is silent which takes getting used to(sounds funny, doesn't it). It is more than adequate for bird flight photography, highly accurate, yet a tad slow. It is not the fastest lens out there in a maximum aperture sense, and this may have something to do with autofocus performance. Nonetheless, image quality more than makes up for this IMO.
regards~Bill

[Arthur Morris]

I find the bg a little too smooth. :) Szimi

Hey Szimi, For me, no background can be too smooth. :) :) And I love the BKGR here.