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Thread: Flamingo (Phoenicopterus ruber)

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    Default Flamingo (Phoenicopterus ruber)

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    My annual visit to the flamingos has been really productive this year with the 500VR lens. A lot of shooting opportunities to photograph flights with very different light conditions and different skies (deep blue, white and grey). I am not sure why but the grey skies in the area are really dramatic and match perfectly with the flamingo´s colors, at least in my opinion. Pink and grey works really nicely for me. The first morning lights has been really nice but problematic because the intense reds of the flamingos are oversaturated very quickly due to the wave length of the morning light, very rich in red color, and the tendency of digitall bodies to oversaturate the red channel.

    Almost all my images has been created using the 1,4X-TC and handholded, with no blind because the birds are really cooperative there. I think that the 500VR+1,4XTC is really handholdable and a terrific combo for birds in flight. Sharpness is amazing, in the same league of my old 300VR, even with the 1,4XTC.

    In the past months I have been testing a D300 and, instead of the fact that at first glance I didn´t liked a lot, now I am really happy with it. I miss the building and ergonomy of my D2X but it is obvious that the image quality is much better in the D300. Another reason is that I like to overexpose a bit and if you want to capture a bird in flight at f8, 1/1650s and overexposed… you need a high ISO and that is not the strongest point of the D2X. Now most of my flight images are in the ISO640-800 range (some of them even at ISO1000). Why? Very simple, I wanted to produce overexposed images (about one stop) because I can fix the exposure in the RAW conversion very easily, producing very good details in the blacks with less noise. The images doesn´t look great in the camera but they are perfect for processing, especially if the image is strongly contrasted.

    More images at my blog.

    As always, your comments and critics are strongly appreciated :)

    Murcia, Spain

    Nikon D300 AFS NIkkor 500VR+1,4XTC, handheld f8 1/

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    Forum Participant Joe Senzatimore's Avatar
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    Glad you are liking the D300. With images as fine as this being produced , whats not to like? I really like the pink bird against the grey sky. It sets off the bird very well.

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    I really must visit you someday Juan to increase my files with some great Flamingo shots like this one. Great flight angle, nice grey sky and excellent HA. Would love to see this with a bit more contrast and saturation. Good to have you back here!

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    Krijn, you are wellcome in Spain :)

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    Quote Originally Posted by Joe Senzatimore View Post
    Glad you are liking the D300. With images as fine as this being produced , whats not to like? I really like the pink bird against the grey sky. It sets off the bird very well.
    Ditto about D300
    Lovely image , I liked the wing pose and that eye
    TFS

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    Lifetime Member Doug Brown's Avatar
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    I agree with you that the bird looks great against the gray sky BG. I use a similar workflow to yours, although I don't normally push it a full stop to the right. Welcome to the high ISO club!
    Upcoming Workshops: Bosque del Apache 2019, Ecuador 2020 (details coming soon)
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    this is just wonderful image juan. D300 is just awesome piece of machine Nikon has produced and gives fantastic flexibility over every category of photography.

    i think on my lcd it looks some less contrasted image.
    white's are looks little grey may be my lcd is not calibrated but still would like to try out a step of increase in contrast to enhance white's.

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    Lifetime Member Stu Bowie's Avatar
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    Juan, I like the placement of the flamingo in the frame, and just love the flying posture with the slight head turn. I am in agreement with you that pinks and greys really compliment each other, and with the flamingo against the grey sky BG - perfecto!!!

  9. #9
    Axel Hildebrandt
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    I like the pose, exposure control, details and the gray BG really helps with this kind of plumage. I'd love to see this species sometime.

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    Hola Juan,

    Very well done, indeed. As mentioned above the grey BG brings makes the bird pop out. Nice exposure control technique...congratulations.

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    BPN Member Morkel Erasmus's Avatar
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    all has been said Juan! great pose, angle, exposure, colours and it pops nicely! congrats!
    all your settings aren't given? what ISO was the shot eventually taken at?
    Morkel Erasmus

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    Super Moderator Daniel Cadieux's Avatar
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    Here's another fan of the pink on grey combo! As posted you may want to make the pupil a bit more evident just to make the eye stand out more (but I'm sure at full size it looks great). Otherwise fantastic image!!

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    Juan, I really like seeing these birds in flight! I agree the color-combo is great. Very nice composition.

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