Waiting for the Sunrise

[Katie Rupp]

Went to Bosque for the first time and it was a wonderful experience. I loved watching (and listening to) the morning activities at the crane pool. It seemed to me that this fellow was looking to see if it was warm/light enough to get up and start the day. C&C encouraged and greatly appreciated.

Canon 40D; Manual exposure, f4, 1/400; ISO 800; 500mm; HANDHELD (BIF workshop with Jim Neiger)

[Thanaboon Jearkjirm]

Lovely behavior shot, very nice pose, love how the eye is still visible while the rest is hide behind the feathers. Sharp with nice feather details, the pinkish color in the background is beautiful too. Wish the water is a bit cleaner.

[Roger Dillon]

Katie,

Very nice soft lighting on this shot and great detail. I agree with the post above about the water and I would prefer a slightly different crop on this one with a little more room on the left than the right or at least centered to place the emphasis of the image on the area of the eye which to me is the strength of this image.

[Jeff Cashdollar]

Agree with comments above - nice shot.

HH'ing that 500, I am impressed. (BIF training) that explains no tripod, did you do the entire BIF sessions HH'ing the 500? I guess it is only for a second or two but the glass get heavy. I do it too and it can wear on one. When I did BIF with Al and Fabs we used tripod and HH combos.

[Katie Rupp]

Thank you all for looking and commenting; I appreciate the feedback.

Jeff: It was handholding all the way and I totally surprised myself as I went in as a doubting-Thomas. Mind you, I need a LOT more practice and faster reaction times but I liked it so much more for BIF than with a tripod.

[Harold Davis]

bird looks great! love the clear, visible eye. might crop a sliver off the bottom and add some up top. agree with cleaning up the water. will make this one shine!!! great job, katie.

[Jackie Schuknecht]

Great for HH Katie! I haven't even attempted it yet. Cleaner water would have been a plus, the colour of it is so lovely. Like the framing as presented. Might try a vignette around the edges.

[Alfred Forns]

Hi katie Glad you got to Bosque !! Magical place !!

Crop wise I would make it more rectangular with the extra room to the right ... direction of the bird's look. Love the light !!

At times HH is the only way to go but always treat it as last resort, you should be able to track birds in flight with the tripod with no problem !!!

[Doug Brown]

HH'ing that 500, I am impressed. (BIF training) that explains no tripod, did you do the entire BIF sessions HH'ing the 500? I guess it is only for a second or two but the glass get heavy.

She did great and I even have a picture to prove it!

[Jeff Cashdollar]

Doug, post it!

[Kerry Perkins]

Very nice Katie! I was just there for the first time also and have to agree that it is a wonderful experience.

Lovely colors, pose, and sharpness. Hand-holding is liberating!!

[Arthur Morris]

I am fine with the basics of the crop. Since the bird is in effect looking to the right, I like it with more room on the right than on the left. Alfred's suggestion to have created an original horizontal with the bird on the left is a good one.

As both Axel and Jim N. have proved, hand-holding can be a huge advantage when it comes to capturing birds in flight and in action. But with static subject like this, you are often forced to use much higher ISOs than you would have if you were on a tripod (and at times to under-expose and then to lighten as I believe that you did here...) I am surprised that nobody mentioned the ton of noise in the background and the somewhat muddied colors. Had you been on a tripod, you could have used ISO 200 at 1/60 sec. f/4 (that with 2/3 stop of additional light (to avoid the muddied colors).

[Jeff Cashdollar]

Speaking for me only, I rarely use ISO>400/500 on my 40D, just cannot get the noise out of my images. I use Topaz 3 (current version) it does a great job, but when I zoom in at 100% or greater I can still see too many artifacts for my acceptance level - but that's me.

I could do an ISO test on my camera and maybe I will, but there are many variables making it difficult to target compelling conclusions,. the answer probably will be "it depends" (smile)

I am reviewing images on a 24 inch ColorEdge monitor set to max display density and calibrated monthly, great technology - but I tend to see deep into the image, maybe too deep?

[Katie Rupp]

Artie, of course you are right about the noise and the repair of the under-exposure; this was taken while we were waiting for them to take off and at the time, standing there, watching the solitary birds, I was wishing for a tripod to better capture images such as this one...Thanks for taking the time to comment on my image and have no fear; my tripod is still a given for the majority of my work. Handholding for BIF feels right to me.
Regards,
Katie

[Doug Brown]

Here's a link. I posted it on Friends and Family.