This image was created this morning at the Austin Roberts Bird Sanctuary in Pretoria. The light was still behind the trees but at some spots it hit the birds as they flew - I was lucky enough to get one of those moments.
This is my first proper in-flight shot of this bird and I would really appreciate your feedback to improve this image...
Canon 1000D with 100-400 L IS USM @ 220mm
f5.0 @ 1/1250 SS @ ISO 800
the 1000D handles ISO 800 reasonably well but I definitely prefer to be on ISO 400 whenever the ligth allows it...
Last edited by Morkel Erasmus; 06-27-2009 at 03:27 PM.
Nice and sharp with a good head angle and I like the bg !!! Would rather have the wings fully up/down .. good to keep the motor humming !!!
PS wise you can do something to the head area. Try selecting by color (the whites) feather then multiply It will bring some detail to the area and can be done more than once. If you need detail info drop by ETL and post one that needs it !! Will take care of you there !!!
Didn't see the exp comp (very imp) or metering mode !! For this you should have been in manual since the bg would change your exposure while the bird remains in the same light. I like it a lot !!!
I like the details and head angle. The BG is blurred enough for my taste. I also wish for a different wing position and might tone down the whites on the face a bit more.
Nice HA and action. I too wish for a better wing position. There seems to be some noise in the darker portions of the bird. I would prefer a cleaner BG, but am OK with this one.
Hi Morkel, captured in sweet morning light, not easy at AR.
You seem to have lost a bit of detail in the white face and there seems to be a bit of noise on the wings.
I think that both of these issues ca be resolved in PP.
thanks for the comments everyone! I PP-ed this on my laptop and posted from there since I wasn't home and the difference in the 2 screens really shows. I will give this a rework and repost using some of the suggestions received above.
okay here is a total rework. bit of a different crop, recovered details in the whites of the face, toned down whites of the face, got rid of noise on the wings.
thanks for all the feedback. I try to get the right wing position every time but my camera has a RAW framerate of 1.5fps, which I can't even achieve due to slow speed SD cards (they are next on the budgeted list :)) This basically means all my in-flight shots are akin to 'single-shot' settings even though I have the camera put to 'continuous shooting'...
Great meeting you too this morning Mork. Congrats on your first capture of a WFD, and Im sure you captured lots more yesterday. Your repost works much better. Have a look at Artie's advice on my WFD with regards to saving the whites on these difficult characters. ( You missed some fun today at Mankwe, but I wont rub it in. LOL. Seriously, there wasnt as much as usual, but one does come away with a few keepers. Cheers. )
White-faced duck in flight
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