Durty Burd

[wendell westfall]

D90 70-200VR+2X@400 1/640 f5.6 ISO400 0EV monopod

This morning I had what I thought was a great opportunity, but was ultimately disappointed with the result. A dozen of these guys flew into a tree, 50 feet above my head, and patiently sat there for pictures. With the bright sun at my back, I got off a dozen or more shots, frequently changing my EV setting from plus 2/3 to minus 2/3. I chose this as my best, and, as you see, used an 0EV setting here. The image is cropped about 50% and is, for me, tweaked extensively. Of course, the beak was blown. Does anyone think I succeeded with this shot? Am I expecting too much? What could i have done differently? All advice welcomed and appreciated.

Wendell

[Alfred Forns]

Hi Wendell The color balance is off for this one, these birds have a lot of black !! Re posting with only color balance !!

Basic image is over exposed, imagine you are trying for shadow detail and the adjacent tree/branches got blown !! In this situation might be best to rely on fill flash and just take the whites all the way to the right without going over !!!

Steep angle creates the first problem here, not sure if you could make the birds land to work with them on the ground .. they are fairly cooperative :)

[Harold Davis]

al nailed it for me, wendell. playing with them on the ground is lots of fun and they are normally easily approachable. man, you get an A+ for your effort here!:)

[Kerry Perkins]

Hi Wendell - as Al mentioned the image is over-exposed. I would guess at least one full stop and maybe more. With your techs as stated I would probably be shooting this at about 1/1600 or 1/2000. You did get a nice pose and eye contact!

I am posting here an example, with full sunlight at ISO 400, f/5.6 and 1/2000 shutter speed. Nothing done to this but a larger crop and sharpening.

[Lance Peters]

great advice above!! Totally agree with the points made.
A face only a mother could love.
Aren't these the evil car wreckers??

[Kerry Perkins]

Lance, the car wreckers are the Black Vultures in Florida. I think they work for the rubber cartel... :D

[Mark Young]

Steep angle creates the first problem here, not sure if you could make the birds land to work with them on the ground .. they are fairly cooperative :)

What in blue blazers do you lure a Vulture with??? :eek:

[Kerry Perkins]

Road kill for Turkey Vultures, Volvo windshields for Black Vultures! :D

[wendell westfall]

Thanks to all. Yes, Al, I was trying hard to obtain shadow detail and overdid it. My PP color balance I now see was ill chosen -- and mostly an unnecessary tweak. Your post, Kerry, shows the color I had hoped for, and I'm sure i could have profited from a faster shutter speed as you suggest. Oh, well, perhaps I'll get another chance . . .

[Kerry Perkins]

Wendell, there's always another chance! You will get it next time I'm sure.