"Final Approach of the Redtail"

[paul leverington]

One more oldy but a goody. My comp was not as strong in this one, but I utilized 45 degree side light at sunset to rake across his wings to bring out max detail. The field was totally created by me using plants gathered all over and glued to wood discs with nails in them. I had to extend the plants if I remember correct, about 40 feet from the front row to the back row. I found that if you don't place them spread out and at different distances from the subject they will all have the same in focus therefore a two dimensional look. By spreading them,the plants going OOF as they leave the depth of field(no pun intended) will create a feeling of greater depth going back into the shot. I could have done better with the arrangement with this one knowing what I know now, but I still like the shot because the detail and sharpness is just mind blowing.

By the by--is it normal for such a red shift in color when posting an image? The jpgs look alright in PS but whenever I post the images they do a pretty hefty shift to the reds. Is that normal? Perhaps I could get some feedback as to if things look too red on your monitors in this shot.

Paul

Mark II 600/4 I'll have to look for the shooting data later--sorry Probably around Iso 400 1/1600 @ f/5.6

[Danny Laredo]

Wonderful capture. Love the light and detail. Poweful flight pose.

[Harshad Barve]

amazing wing and talon position
fantastic image
TFS

[Joe Senzatimore]

Can't shed any light on the color shift issue, but this is a killer shot , IMHO. Nice job on the setup.

[Kiran Poonacha]

Would love to see little more space in front, but just in love with this image, great light, great pose, details.. Big + is the slightly oof Bg thats shows the habitat and adds a lovely feel to this...Big congrats..

[Brian Barcelos]

Paul, Wow I could see this one up on my wall man. Simply stunning, looks like a painting. Love the birds posture, especially the outstretched legs. Only thing I'd do is maybe slightly lighten his iris a bit. Congrats

[Axel Hildebrandt]

Very cool pose, good details, composition and BG. If anything, I might tone down the highlights a tad.

[david cramer]

Colors look ok to me. Great pose, and I agree with lightening the eye a bit. Thanks for sharing your setup.

[Attila Seprenyi]

Amazing work. I always like to see behind the scene thank you for sharing and the result is just excellent. i like it very much

[James Salywoda]

Totally Awesome Paul love the pose captured and the whole series of shots you've been posting. Excellent Work!

[Raymond Barlow]

superb image Paul., what a great looking bird you have there. It might look a little warm to me, but the "fire" in the colours really added to the shot.

[denise ippolito]

Paul, Excellent image design. The illuminated tail feathers make this special along with fantastic details. Well done. TFS. I appreciate you taking the time to tell us how you staged the scene. Most impressive.

[Marina Scarr]

This is an amazing capture. It's always nice to see the behavior with the environment included. You caught just the right pose. The exposure is on the money, and the light and details are awesome.

[Ed Erkes]

My comp was not as strong in this one

You've got to be kidding!! This is amazing!! I love the background and really appreciate your sharing the details behind the making of these images.

[Michael Stern]

Just overall a GREAT image !! Congratulations!!

[paul leverington]

OK well it must be my browser then. Cause if you guys are seeing it the way I am you couldn't possibly not be cringing with the oversaturation of the reds and even the whites are too hot.

"Paul, Wow I could see this one up on my wall man. Simply stunning, looks like a painting. "

Brian--since you mentioned it, this one when printed on canvas off my 9900 at 40 inches high almost always fools the viewer into believing it's a painting every time. I love it! If I could fetch a paintings price for it I'd love it even more though! I'll be setting up my printing website very soon so I guess I'll be finding out soon enough.

Paul

[Matt Vosniak]

I don't know about all the others but on my monitor the reds seem a bit oversaturated too but I don't care. This is so cool Paul. The bird is just popping off my screen. I don't think I would hang a picture of this on my wall though, I would rather wallpaper the entire wall with this shot!!:D Unbelievable image.

Matt

[arash_hazeghi]

superb and absolutely flawless landing shot, they don't usually come out so sharp. I would only consider toning down the highlights a bit.

[Ian Mason]

Yikes! That is just stunning! Ok, others have made a few suggestions and I can see where they are coming from, but it is absolutely brilliant as posted - very well done indeed.

[Ákos Lumnitzer]

Reds look fine Down Under mate. Love your work and this is no exception! :)

[Chris van Rooyen]

Well planned and brilliantly executed. The colours look fine to me. A really striking image - posture, light and background all comes together to form an integrated whole. Agree on a slight tone down of the highlights.