Merlin 2

[Brian Barcelos]

I'm really hoping to get another opportunity with this guy as I wasn't able to do him justice. Just like the last one I posted I had to lighten up some shadows which introduced some noise. I cloned out a few branches that were in front of his tail and chest. Not sure if it's noticeable at this size. This was cropped into a vertical, about 60% of full frame. All C/C appreciated

Canon EOS 50D
Aperture-Priority AE
Tv 1/1600
Av 8.0
Evaluative Metering
Exposure Comp -2/3
ISO Speed 640
Tamron 200-500mm
Focal Length 500mm

[Kiran Khanzode]

I love the light and the scene. I can't see any noise and cloning efforts..lovely work.

Kiran

[Harshad Barve]

lovely image , nice PP job , cant see noise
TFS

[arash_hazeghi]

Hi Brian,
Very beautiful pose with prey, excellent perch and prefect crop. Light was a bit harsh and I can tell some sharpness is lost in the feathers but overall very good, noise might be visible on a wide gamut screen, especially in the darks but one more pass of noise reduction can take care of it. I would also sharpen the eye and beak more.

Thanks for sharing, overall very nice image.

[Arthur Morris]

Nice pose, prey, and crop. Do you know the species of lunch?

There is some noise in the visible wing. You did relatively well with a tough light angle.

Please post a full frame JPEG that represents the original capture. Thanks.

[Brian Barcelos]

Thanks for all the comments and suggestions.

Artie, here is your full frame of the image. The prey item is a House Sparrow which was confirmed with a decapitated head and lots of feathers under this tree, should of taken an image of it but when the crows scared him away I gave chase, he lost me within seconds bye the way.
Seen him today but only for a quick second as he flew right over me while I was driving through the cemetery looking for him.

[david cramer]

Excellent work getting those branches out in post. Nice composition and I love the perch.

[ChasMcRae]

Great job of removing branches especially over the tail.

[Arthur Morris]

Thanks Brian, Your Photoshop work was extensive and well done. If you compare the wings you can see the noise in the original post where you lightened it. Pushing the histogram to the right as far as possible without clipping is the way to prevent that.

[Brian Barcelos]

Thanks again for comments.

Artie, the hist was pushed as far right without burning his legs and especially his chest which I did in a few exposures before this one. Thanks for your time. Glad the photoshop work looks acceptable.

[Arthur Morris]

Thanks again for comments.

Artie, the hist was pushed as far right without burning his legs and especially his chest which I did in a few exposures before this one. Thanks for your time. Glad the photoshop work looks acceptable.

Way to go! And YAW.