Ice Duster

[Randy Stout]

This trumpeter was imaged at the local bird sanctuary. Very windy, with gusts to 30 mph. The birds were struggling on take off, and gave me lots of chances. The light was quite low, so light angle not an issue.

D700 600 f/8 1/1000s ISO 1250 Manual Gitzo/Wimberley

Post: CS4 curves, selective sharpening, minor crop for comp

I liked the angle of flight and primaries brushing the ice.

Advice and comments appreciated.

Cheers

Randy

[Alan Murphy]

Great sharpness and detail. Love the wing touching the water. The pano crop works well here.

[Joel Eade]

Hi Randy,

I agree, very cool wing tip touch. The image almost looks like a B&W conversion, it has a wonderful feel and you really took advantage of that D700's high ISO capabilities ... wow!

Joel

[Randy Stout]

Joel:

I apologize, I miss typed the ISO, and didn't notice it until I saw your comment. It is really good, but ISO was 1250, not 12,500! Sorry. Even the D3S would have trouble at that ISO!

I did do a B&W conversion. Was interesting, but because the tonal range isn't very high in this image, I didn't think it worked as well as the color version. Just the little touch of browns adds some depth in my opinion.

Cheers

Randy

[Layton E Parham]

The back looks a little bright on my monitor. Would lowering the overall exposure help? Love the feathers on ice!

[Todd Frost]

Your swan series has been great and this one is no exception. Agree with the hot whites on the back but thats minor and an easy fix. Thie wing tip touching ice is a nice touch. Nice detail in both the swan and the ice. Well done.
TFS
Todd

[Stu Bowie]

Another fine swan image from you Randy, and overall you nailed the exposure. I like the flying posture, with the wings down, and the primaries touching the ice put this over the top. Well captured.

[Gary Esman]

Really like the wing touching the ice here. You must have gotten there just after I left. The sun went behind the clouds and it got cold quick.:) Nice and sharp!

Gary.

[noelle zaleski]

Very nice Randy. I love the way you can see the wing curl on the edge of the ice.

The trumpeters are a favorite of mine :)

[Pieter de Waal]

Hi Randy, Lovely BIF image which works well with the pano crop. I continue to be impressed with how well you manage the exposure with all the whites around. Also impressive sharpness at 1/1000 particularly the detail on the neck and wings.

[Randy Stout]

Thanks everyone for the comments.
The swans are pretty slow and predictable fliers, so I can get away with slower shutter speed than I would use on ducks. It was so dark that particular day, that I used a slower than normal shutter speed for BIF.

I would prefer around 1/1500 or better when possible.

Randy

[Chad Caswell]

Hey Randy, you got a fine capture, I would love to see it with a catch light added to the eye :) I think this would help define the eye from the bill.

[Randy Stout]

Chad:

I had a version with the faint natural catchlight brought up, but wasn't happy with how it looked, mainly because I knew with the ambient lighting that it wasn't possible to be that bright.

Good thought though.

Cheers

Randy