Taken in Hwange National Park, Zimbabwe, 19th June 2009
EOS 1D MkIII
500mm F4 IS hand-held
F5.6, ISO 250, 1/2500
Secretary Bird
Taken in Hwange National Park, Zimbabwe, 19th June 2009
EOS 1D MkIII
500mm F4 IS hand-held
F5.6, ISO 250, 1/2500
Great work Ken indeed. Love the inquisitive look on its face. I ran Neat Image on it then sharpened the image with smart sharpen 126/0.3.
I would also crop a little from left and above to move it left a bit. The tall grasses balance the comp nicely.
Super low angle Ken, and love the surrounding grasses - their natural enviroment. I like the posture, and would maybe darken the BG slightly. Akos's repost with the NR and cropping works well.
I like the pose and open beak in this one, really makes you wonder what is going on. I also like the setting and angle and agree regarding NR. I like the repost but the crop of the original works for me, too.
Like this Ken. Interesting cock of the head. As Axel says, does make you wonder what it is thinking. Like the repost by Akos. Very nice.
The low angle and the sense of gay abandon on the bird's face are the ones that work for me, Ken. The crop looks a little better.
Ken, I like the pose and the environment included. The repost looks good to me.
Fantstic image here Ken
Would love to see your crop & Akos's PP touchup
TFS
I have not got Neat Image so I tried Noise Ninja and additional sharpening using smart sharpen
Clearly I am missing something, it looks oversharp to me now? Also i think some of the detail in the breast feathers has been lost?
Second repost is fantastic
TFS
Beautiful capture, excellent detail and the repost looks great
Chris Kotze
Originally Posted by Ken Watkins
Ken, I agree about the breast feathers after a second look.
Super pose, and nice use of the FG vegetation to frame the bottom part of the image. I do like the two reposts better, with a slight edge to Akos' crop...but I would eliminate the two tall stems of grass that protrude out of the frame above.
Great light and posture! I like the slightly tighter crop. I would consider warming the temperature just a slight bit?
All well, but knowing the secretary bird the lower border amputates the legs about at knee level, one cant see them because ot the grass but it worries me, we were told leave the amputations to the orthopedic surgeons.
I would also like a tighter crop, reposts is an improvement. Like the natural habitat shown very well.
Like the tighter crop, albeit a tad tight at the bottom with not enough space for the legs. Agree you have a slight loss of chest detail on the second post Ken, but BG noise well taken care of. Like the light, colours & tilted head.
Prefer both reposts re cropping but think that both are a bit oversharpened now. Funny pose. JR
Your repost is great Ken. I wonder (stupid question perhaps, so forgive me) did you do NR on the entire scene or did you mask the bird first?
These raptors are amazing to look at, even in pictures. Looks like something grabbed this guy by both legs. Nice job, Ken. If you have any more good ones like this, please share. We won't tire of them. I like the NR run on BG in Akos' repost. You have to mask out the subject when you do NR otherwise you risk undoing any sharpening.
Akos
On my repost I just did NR on the whole JPEG image that is when I noticed the loss of detail in the breast feathers.
Loukie
I am not sure that I cut its legs off at the knees but I certainly lost the feet somwhere.
Erich
I have quite a lot of images of Secretary birds but this one stands out for me because of the "facial expression".
I have taken note of everybody's comments, and started againfrom RAW.
I ran NR on background, selective sharpening using QM and Smart sharp, changed the crop to allow more room for the legs, is it better? I think it probably is.
Looks great mate. Really does. Fabulous effort! :)
Love the vertical repost with the new pp. But perhaps a bit too warm now. Sorry for nagging. Great pic! JR
Ken,
Outstanding repost!
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