Harrier Hijinks

[Conrad Tan]

Body: Canon 7D
Lens: 400mm f/5.6
Time:Around 3 in the afternoon
Place: Baylands, Palo Alto, CA
Shutter Speed: 1/2000s
F-Stop: f/9.0
Shutter Priority
Center AF "+" group

Activity at Byxbee Park at Baylands area in Palo Alto has been wild with activity the last couple of weeks. These two harriers were seen doing aerial battles and when they got real close I was able to fire off this shot. I hoped for a better background but this activity was happening about 40 feet away and 50 feet up! :o
Critiques would be greatly appreciated! :D

[Doug Brown]

Cool dogfight! I would crop a little tighter and bring up the shadows in the bird on the right. Please try to include complete techs with your images. :)

[Stu Bowie]

Interesting reverse angle from the harrier on the left, both sharp, and agree to bring in from the left. The clear sky BG doesnt bother me.

[arash_hazeghi]

This is cool Conrad, I saw the dogfights two weeks ago but was too far to pull a nice shot!!! congrats. I agree with Doug about tighter crop, vertical will work nice here too. I would also play with saturation a bit as the plumage (especially yellows) looks a bit muted on my screen. Very well done, nice that you have eye contact on both.

[Conrad Tan]

Cool dogfight! I would crop a little tighter and bring up the shadows in the bird on the right. Please try to include complete techs with your images. :)

I'm terribly sorry Doug I forgot to include the tech specs! I've edited that now. :o:o:o What is the protocol if I wanted to re-do the image as per your recommendations and post? Do I just link to the re-edited image? :confused: Or just leave this alone? Thanks for your help my friend! :)

[Conrad Tan]

Interesting reverse angle from the harrier on the left, both sharp, and agree to bring in from the left. The clear sky BG doesnt bother me.

Ahh... I see that a vert crop would indeed help. Funny I never think of these unless someone else points it out. Thanks Stuart!

[Doug Brown]

When you repost an image, post it as a reply rather than editing your original post. It helps people follow the thread and is a better educational experience.

[Kaustubh Deshpande]

Congrats! excellent action and poses. the fanned tail especially. All good suggestions above. Thx for sharing.

[Conrad Tan]

This is cool Conrad, I saw the dogfights two weeks ago but was too far to pull a nice shot!!! congrats. I agree with Doug about tighter crop, vertical will work nice here too. I would also play with saturation a bit as the plumage (especially yellows) looks a bit muted on my screen. Very well done, nice that you have eye contact on both.

Hey Arash! Yeah this is an older FM post :o:o:o The yellows do look drab Arash. I must recalibrate my screen at home. They do look flat on my work monitor as well. :(

[Conrad Tan]

When you repost an image, post it as a reply rather than editing your original post. It helps people follow the thread and is a better educational experience.

Ahhh.. ok ok I get it. Thanks Doug! Coming from Fred Miranda, there was much less structure in what protocol there was. Thanks for your help :D:D:D

[Conrad Tan]

Congrats! excellent action and poses. the fanned tail especially. All good suggestions above. Thx for sharing.

Thank you Kaustubh! I'll re-work the image and repost when I get home. :)

[Conrad Tan]

Alrighty I did some quick edits with everyone's tips and came up with this! Thanks for the help I agree it improves the image a lot :)

[Steve Canuel]

I like the comp of the repost Conrad. Spend enough time here and you'll do a lot more subconscious thinking (backgrounds, comps, lighting, etc.) before you even take your shot.

[Arthur Morris]

The repost is an improvement. Selectively sharpening the face of the bird on our right would put this one near the top.

[Fabs Forns]

I think the image still has too much yellow. I added like 15 points of blue (opposite color) in Color Balance, sharpened the face on the right and lightened a bit to show more detail. Hope you like it.
And big welcome to BPN!

[Arthur Morris]

Fabs, I love what you have done with the color and the sharpening! (The Bulletin is gonna go out on Monday.)

[Conrad Tan]

I like the comp of the repost Conrad. Spend enough time here and you'll do a lot more subconscious thinking (backgrounds, comps, lighting, etc.) before you even take your shot.

Thank you Steve! I'll keep these things in mind! :D

[Conrad Tan]

The repost is an improvement. Selectively sharpening the face of the bird on our right would put this one near the top.

Wow... I don't know what to say Arthur. You have been a hero of mine for years! Forgive me for gushing but I appreciate you taking the time to critique my photograph! :o:o:o I'll try some selective sharpening and see how it goes. Have a good one kind sir! :)

[Conrad Tan]

I think the image still has too much yellow. I added like 15 points of blue (opposite color) in Color Balance, sharpened the face on the right and lightened a bit to show more detail. Hope you like it.
And big welcome to BPN!

Ahhhh thank you so so so much Fabs! This looks much much better now! I really have a long way to go as far as a critical eye for the small details. I couldn't be happier about joining this forum. Thanks again for your re-edit! :D:D:D

[Conrad Tan]

Fabs, I love what you have done with the color and the sharpening! (The Bulletin is gonna go out on Monday.)

+1 :D

Bulletin Arthur :confused: