D90
80-400 @ 400mm
ISO 200; 1/1600 s. @ f5.6
Matrix metering, -0.3EV; AF-A; Auto WB
Beanbag on car window.
Cropped about 50% width and height.
This was about 6 weeks ago at Brigantine. Worst possible light on a bright day with the sun directly overhead. I'll have to start getting up earlier. But I do like the way the light comes through the tail feathers. Used s/h tool to lighten wings. I see a bit of halo so I probably oversharpened.
I cropped out his intended destination, an aesthetically-challanged 2x4 sticking out of a man-made platform. I toyed with inserting a better branch and sky from another file, but decided it went beyond my personal ethics.
Hi Bill - pretty much agree with your self critique - the harsh light being the problem, some of the whites on the head area are right on the edge.
Like the open beak, wish the head was turned a tad towards you rather than away, like the Talons.
See the Halo also - check out the educational resources forum for lots of sharpening tips especially with sky as the BG.
Looks like you are going to have to get up much earlier - looking forward to seeing more :)
Hi Bill,
I like the capture...I like the open talons and the beak. The capture angle is good, agree with Mr. Peters on the whites being over...keep them coming...:cool:
Bill, Great action shot. When you photograph in the middle of the day in harsh light and apply a 50% crop you did all that could be done and actually did well. These kind of shots are cool and I would have taken it also, the bottom line is. They seldom will be of high quality and often require lots of work. Which is good, b/c it is a great practice project and you did well my friend. Just look at this beautiful creature, you caught him looking for lunch I assume - nice work.
Last edited by Jeff Cashdollar; 10-09-2009 at 10:14 PM.
Hi Bill - Agree with the other comments. I think you did well at getting the best from the situation. I notice several strange artifacts in the blue sky. Some of them along the left side look slightly gray and may be dust bunnies, but they look like pixel squares? I can see them throughout the sky, particularly if I scroll the image up and down on my monitor. Are they on the original raw version?
Cheers
Gail
Thanks for the helpful comments. The halo shows up in the TIF file; the artifacts Gail refers to are worse in the JPEG conversion. Neither is evident in the RAW capture. The original sky looked very dull despite the bright sun, so I tried to improve the color of the BG. The problem, I suspect, is that the image is overworked both in color/level/contrast adjustments and in sharpening. It might be a useful exercise (when I have time) to go back to the original and try processing again using better (and less) technique; but as Jeff points out it will never be a high-quality image, so best to go out and get a better shot. Appreciate the advice.
Prepared for Landing
