Wide Body

[Arthur Morris]

This Short-billed Dowitcher in pretty fresh juvenal plumage was photographed while I was seated in the mud at the south end of the East Pond at JBWR on the first afternoon of the recent IPT. (See tomorrow's Bulletin for a full report.) It was dark and rainy and windy and pretty cold for August in NYC.

Canon 800mm f/5.6L IS lens with 1.4X II TC and the EOS-1D MIV. ISO 800. Evaluative metering +1 1/3 stops set manually yielded a somewhat underexposed RAW file (as I was fighting to keep the ISO down and the shutter speed up). Fill flash at -3 stops.

(To get the bill sharp I would have had to use a much higher ISO and a much slower shutter speed neither of which I was anxious to do :))

This image was skillfully optimized by Robert O'Toole.

Don't be shy; all comments welcome.

[Bill Dix]

Great perspective on this fellow. Sharp bill would have been nice but pretty tough under the conditions, I guess. Wonderful colors and detail. To my eye there's no evidence of having recovered an underexposed shot -- good PP work.

[Arthur Morris]

Thanks Bill. Robert is a master. He converted it dark, opened up the bird with Curves on a Layer Mask, and then added contrast to the bird only. I do not think that I would have done as well....

[Stu Bowie]

I like the front on capture here, and good use of flash. Lovely soft colours throughout, and the comp works well.

[Aidan Briggs]

Great soft light, low angle, and sharpness. I especially love the soft colors of the plumage. Sounds like you couldn't do much about the bill. I am jealous of all the cool species at JBWR!!

[Mike Milicia]

Beautiful bird and love the soft light and "wide body" view!

Would have to see it both ways to be sure but my first thought was I would trade some more room at the bottom for a bit less at the top.

[Mike Tracy]

Bad Head angle IMO. You need to either have captured him with a direct head on perspective or a a greater turn to our right. Too shallow of a dof. Would have made a compromise in this instance. Love how you captured one fat bird though

[Kaustubh Deshpande]

Artie, I like the shallow DOF here. Tight comp works perfectly here. I can see that it is brilliantly processed. IMO, it looks better this way than going high-key.

[Michael Zajac]

Artie, I like the fat bird and the sharp details on the head. I think you have enough sharpness at the base of the bill to carry the image.

[denise ippolito]

Artie, So what did your shutter speed end up being?

[Arthur Morris]

Artie, So what did your shutter speed end up being?

Yikes! 1/60 sec. (at f/8). Nice to be able to create sharp images at 1/60 at equivalent 1456mm (or a bit more than 29X). I am wondering if the new Canon super-telephotos will have the 4-stop IS that the 800 has. I would think so. Thanks for catching my brain typo/omission.

[denise ippolito]

Thanks for the info Artie, I am always amazed at that lens.