7D BIF: Great Black-Backed Gull

[Dave Blinder]

Recent shot at Sandy Hook, New Jersey

The whites were originally very hot, but I was able to recover a lot of detail by fully decreasing highlights (-5) in DPP. I've added a drop of canvas to the left. The AF point in DPP shows a single focal point which slightly back-focused and hit the sky. While not critically sharp, looks to be enough fine detail here to me. I think the salvation was I have the AF sensitivity all the way down on 7D custom functions. Thoughts on that appreciated too.




Canon 100-400mm zoom, handheld in Av Mode
Camera: Canon EOS 7D
Exposure: 0.001 sec (1/1600)
Aperture: f/7.1
Focal Length: 375 mm
ISO Speed: 320
Exposure Bias: +1/3 EV

[Harshad Barve]

cant comment on whites as I am at laptop , but beautiful pose and eye contact here
TFS

[Graeme Sheppard]

This picture doesn't really grab me I'm afraid - I think you mentioned the main limitations in your own post :)
Although there is detail in the bird, you kind you have to look for it. You could also do with a bit more space on the left.

[Dave Blinder]

Thanks Harshad. Graeme - I clearly see the feather grain on the birds back, the mottling around the head, and definition on tail feathers. Could you be more precise in what areas the detail is lacking? Thanks.

[Graeme Sheppard]

What I mean is that although I can see the detail you mention, I wouldn't say they are actually clear - the grains on the back blend together a little too much.
A touch more sharpness in post-processing may help here.
But, to be honest, I haven't got much experience with BIF since I've only got one decent shot so far in my year of trying.
Best wishes.

[Ben Egbert]

Hi, nice eye contact and all, but I think the problem here is lack of contrast. Probably from pushing the whites.

[Dave Brown]

Hi There,

Good points made already here. I think the two main drawbacks with this image are the angle of inclination and the wing position. If the bird had been more at eye level and you got a shot with the wings fully up or down that would have made for a much more pleasing/striking image. The detail doesn't look that bad to me. As for whites ,I too am on my laptop,but they look ok to me.

Dave Brown

[arash_hazeghi]

Nice shot Dave, wing position can be better as the bird profile is a bit flat and not super attractive. The focus seems to be on the right wing which looks sharper than the head/beak. You can selectively sharpen the head to improve it. As for AF, you have to keep the focus point on the bird's head or on the same plain as the head like neck and shoulder area. For birds that fly slow and straight like gulls you can set the tracking sensitivity to slow to reduce the effect of AF jumping to BG when subject leaves the focus frame.

[Dave Blinder]

Thanks guys. For whatever it's worth, I like the wing position, just because I don't have any like this in my collection.

Arash - I believe I errantly had Zone AF on here, but I will try to stick to Single Point + Expansion going forward.