Meadowlark singing on valve

[David Stephens]

This was taken within 2-hours of opening the box from B&H containing my new Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS lens.

This was shot with said lens on my 7D with the EF 1.4x TC II and an Induro C414 tripod, with Arca-Swiss Z1 ballhead and Wimberley Sidekick (which works very well with this lens -- smooth as buttah) at the following settings on an overcast afternoon:

ISO 400
0EV
Aperture Priority
f/5.6
Resulting in 1/1000-sec
RAW plus jpeg

I was going for the bokeh and used a shutter burst to capture the bird in mid-song.

RAW conversion was done in DxO's Optics Pro 6.1.1, pulling the RGB curve down a little while adding a touch of contrast and just a few points of Saturation.

BTW, the valve is actually not level, so I didn't level it, but now I'm thinking that maybe I should have because it'll always be a question in peoples' minds. Let me know if it bothers you or not please.






All suggestions are greatly appreciated. :cool:

BTW, using the EF 500mm after shooting over 10,000 shots with my EF 400mm f/5.6L seems almost like "cheating." My "Keeper" rate has gone through the roof. :D

Dave

[Bob Miller]

Hi Dave....congratulations on your new toy! And what a nice shot you have here! Sharp, with a clean bg. It personally does not bother me not to have the valve level. Pose is awesome...just wish there was an eyespot to add life to the shot!

[Michael Pancier]

congrats on the new gear.

I agree with Bob that it could benefit from some catch lights. Is there anything in the raw file you can work with? If so, perhaps dodging the highlights may add something to liven up the eyes.

[David Stephens]

Thanks for the good idea. I can probably find a lightish spot in the background and add a pixel or two in the eye.

Dave

[Julie Brown]

Congrats David on your new lens. This image is sharp with beautiful color and BG. I love the pose as well. Of course, a catchlight would be icing on the cake!:D

[Lance Peters]

Hi David - love the singing pose - BG looks good, agree with the catchlight in the eye will add some life to it - looks a little dead at the moment - there is a thread in educational resources about adding catchlights.
For my personal tastes - think I would level the valve - could be just me though.
Nice new toy!!!
Looking forward to seeing more.

[Dave Mills]

Hi David, agree with Lance's comments. The catchlight will add some life to the subject. To my eye the image looks a hair dark. I would lighted it just a little bit. Good luck with the new lense!