My wife and I went out in the canoe for several hours late one summer evening last year. We went out specifically looking for RWBB's. We found dozens of them in a small section of a local pond with millions of mosquitoes too. After 3 long grueling hours and this image we called it quits. I think it was worth it all. i would like the head turned slightly more to me, nut his was my best since i started back into photography in the last 10 years. What do you think?
Canon EOS 5D, Shooting Date/Time 5/9/2007 19:236, Tv(Shutter Speed) 1/25Sec. Av(Aperture Value) F6.3, Evaluative metering, Exposure Compensation 0, ISO 400, Lens 300mm f/2.8L IS USM +2.0x, Focal Length 600.0 mm, Image size 4368 x 2912, Image Quality RAW, Flash Off, White Balance Auto, AF mode AI Servo AF, Picture Style Standard. Hand held while swatting the hordes of blood sucking devils. I looked like I had the measles when I got home. Reminded me of Florida when I was young and we went hunting in the swamps for days at a time.
Last edited by Grady Weed; 02-17-2008 at 05:43 PM.
Reason: sorry about the wording
You already mentioned that you would have liked a better head turn, but what really kills it for me is all the branches that cross in front of the bird.
If this is not cropped, I would do so at bottom and left. I don't mind most of the branches, even the ones crossing the wings and tail, but like Jim I really think the one in front of the bird's breast is distracting. Good exposure and great colors to the background!
Yes Sid that is correct, 1/25 shutter speed, in RAW, just checked the exif data, hand held in the Canoe. I have been a personal friend of James Shadle for over 35 years, ask him. I do not fudge or make things up. Remember the Canon 20D and the Tamron 200-500 I sold you? The best of condition as I advertised was it not? Great deal was it not? :)
As for the branches in the frame covering or crossing over the bird, I like that personally. Like a window in the home of the subject. Cropped for a 8x10 and this 80 % of the original frame. It is OK with me if some do not like the chosen comp or the dense habitat. We all have our own likes.
Last edited by Grady Weed; 02-17-2008 at 05:40 PM.
Reason: spelling, again
Grady the the RWBB is beautiful but I would tend to go to a horizontal with this image and crop some of the OOF branches in the forground. The image has a very lovely natural habitat look to it and I personally really like it. The other branches excluding the one front do not bother me. Glad you were able to get this one and you did well at a shutter speed of 1/25. Thanks for sharing.
Nice setting, exposure control and BG. I agree on the head turn and would clone out the branch in front of the wing. I hope you didn't need a transfusion. :)
Grady or should I say Steady Eddie.
It does seem unlikely to get an image this sharp with a 600mm from a canoe @ 1/25 of a second.
But I don't doubt your word. So unlikely it is, not impossible.
Grady,
Why were you using TV mode?
It is the least flexible of all exposure modes.
Metering and photographing at 0, how much did you need to bring this image "up" in the RAW conversion?
James
PS Your wife should get a metal, you are the last person I would get in a canoe with. OK, next to last, Craig is last.
I cant wait to go out on the Hooptie with you James...this is the unedited and uncropped RAW to tiff and resized for upload. this was shot very close by the way. About 25 feet away, and as mentioned, low light, just before dusk, hordes of mosquitoes, canoe floating toward the subject with a slight wind. It was not very easy. Even a blind duck gets a fish once in a while. Or a donut when someone is not screaming at him.
Last edited by Grady Weed; 02-17-2008 at 08:54 PM.
Grady, to me it is a nice natural looking bird-in-habitat image with pleasant coordinating/complementing colors that you brought out in your post-processing. I prefer the horizontal crop; removes more of the OOF lower branches which do not add anything. The branch that bothers me the most and that I would crop out is the largest, whitest, most OOF one in the lower lefthand corner. There are 2 or 3 on the lower righthand area too, but less distracting. Would have been nice had the shoulder patches been sharper and more detailed. P.S. Your wife must be a saint to put up with 3 hrs. of mosquitoes while you took photographs!
Beautiful background color and rich detail in the blacks. The head turn already mentioned. I like the horizontal crop but feel more head room is needed.
Redwinged Black Bird
6, Tv(Shutter Speed) 1/25Sec. Av(Aperture Value) F6.3, Evaluative metering, Exposure Compensation 0, ISO 400, Lens 300mm f/2.8L IS USM +2.0x, Focal Length 600.0 mm, Image size 4368 x 2912, Image Quality RAW, Flash Off, White Balance Auto, AF mode AI Servo AF, Picture Style Standard. Hand held while swatting the hordes of blood sucking devils. I looked like I had the measles when I got home. Reminded me of Florida when I was young and we went hunting in the swamps for days at a time.
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