SonyA700~Sony70-400G@400mm~ISO1600~F5.6~1/640 sec~manual exposure~Hand Held~5-8-2010~Brazoria NWR, Texas~CS4
close to full frame/overcast. Could have used a greater DOF, but that would have required increasing the ISO, at which point noise would become a major issue. Comments and critique welcomed. regards~Bill
Last edited by WIlliam Maroldo; 05-10-2010 at 11:53 PM.
Hi Bill Do like it a lot and agree with tech settings !!! Might just lighten the eye a bit? I like the tight crop and how the bill is not facing the corner !!! Excellent !!!
Hi Bill,
Great detail and expose, I agree with Alfred regarding lightening eye. Also, it would be nice to have just a bit more room on the right side. It's impressive that you could get this close.
Hi Bill,Well handled exposure and interesting subject.You managed to have the key areas of the image sharp. Good advice by Al regarding the eye. A bit too tight on the right for my taste...
Gosh you really had this little bird in your pocket. Very close.
I like the idea of a bit lighter eye and a tad more room on right side.
Very nice composition and nice and sharp without being over done.
Greetings. That's pretty close! Stilts I've seen won't tolerate it and they move pretty quick. I tried to pick you out of the reflection (failed)... but ended up with this version:
3 Curves masked layers for eye, dark feathers, light feathers. Curves were steep, contrast-adding in the specific tonal range for the specific areas. Could sharpen further for crisper detail (if to taste).
Would be great if you attached the color profile to the image (is in repost) for color managed browsers...
The original is fine, I was looking for detail (repost a matter of taste). I found less detail in the forehead that I think only a bit less exposure would have gotten (hard to balance against the rest)...
Very good close up, you manage to get a lot of details in black and white, and the bird looks sharp too. Like the hint of glass in the background, and somehow I like the tight crop. The repost with bright eye look real nice. Might consider doing some NR on the OOF bird's back.
Thanks Peter, DMills, Dave, Al, Thanaboom, Lance, Michael. Joe, I see you made it all the way to Arizona! Texas to Arizona can't take that long? Appreciate the feedback! NR on the OOF bird a good idea Thanaboon. Lightening the eye a good idea as well. Interesting thing about the eye; due to the dim lighting the pupil is rather large, and consequently much less of the red iris.
The tightness on the right could be fixed by adding canvas, and seems like a good idea as well.
Michael-appreciate the observations, and your work on the image. The detail problem in the forehead is something I noticed.. but didn't do anything about it. My approach would be a bit different. Now that you reminded me, I was able to coax a bit more detail out by burning technique, but you got me more interested in the reflection. Cropped that part of the image out of the full sized image, and posted it here. That me! It also shows why substantial cropping is hardly ever a good idea.
From the reflection in the eye there seem to be two person there, I assume you are the one on the right which has a silhouette of person handholding a camera :)
Interesting point about dim light and large pupil, never though of that before but make sense.
Thanaboon: yeah, thats me on the right. I was under the impression I was alone with the stilt! The rest is a bunch of grass that was on the left. regards~Bill
Black-necked Stilt
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