D90
80-400 VR shot at 270 mm
ISO 400; 1/1000s @ f/5.3
Matrix metering, AF-A
Auto WB, adjusted up to 4900 in RAW
0EV in camera, reduced to -0.60 in RAW
Yesterday morning at Sandy Hook. Generally I find these guys to be elusive, but this juvi sat still long enough for me to crawl slowly close to him (unfortunately not close enough to prune the OOF twigs). Interesting footnote: I took some shots at full 400mm zoom where he almost filled the frame, then backed off to 270mm and cropped for this shot. This one came out sharper than the ones at full zoom, maybe answering (at least anecdotally) the question about the sharpness of this lens at 400mm. [Although the posted jpg doesn't look as sharp as the TIF]
C&C welcome in general; and specifically: (1) does the crop give him enough headroom, or make it look like I am forcing him to stoop? (2) what to do with the OOF branches: blur, clone or leave well enough alone? and (3) would it be better to get rid of the branches by means of a tight crop, such as in the repost below?
Hi Bill - Good looking bird, could go either way with the crop - IMHO. I wouldn't remove anything from the original - shows the habitat.
Repost I would crop some from the bottom and the LHS - Body section just looks too long - my eyes keep looking for the rest of the body - would crop it so the concentration is on the head. Eye area looks a little soft - some additional selective sharpening will help.
Like the soft light and the complimentary BG.
I had the 80-400 once and I couldnt get a sharp shot out of it no matter how hard I tried.
Hi Bill,
I like the original the best, it shows the habitat and looks more natural...would recommend on a little extra saturation and contrast...looking forward to your next one...:cool:
I just read the techs and they seem fine, habitat is cool but too busy as noted and the GH's a tad soft.
You could spend time in CS4 cleaning the branches if your ethics allows (mine does). Nice picture, it is what it is, move on to the next day my friend.
Here's version 1 again, with a bit more contrast, sharpening, and some saturation applied just to the bird, per suggestions from Lance and Gus. The changes are subtle - I might have taken them further - but the saturation in particular seems to help separate the bird from the debris around him. I know the head still seems soft which is curious since Nikon View says the point of focus was just to the right of the eye, but I don't trust that software's accuracy. As you suggest, Jeff, I'll accept it as is and move on to the next one rather than trying to clone out the branches (except for the two tiny ones on his wing that I did remove). Thanks for all the helpful advice.
I like the one with the branches too. Your repost did have a sharper bird but the background seem to have more noise. Good photoshop skill in removing two branches from the bird. Head room looks good to me.
I like the last re-post, the branches don't bother me, sometimes it hard to wait and get the shot w/out the branches. I think the bird looks good. TFS:)
Green Heron juv.
