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Thread: Canon 1.4x III Takes on a Bosque Pintail

  1. #1
    Lifetime Member Doug Brown's Avatar
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    Default Canon 1.4x III Takes on a Bosque Pintail

    I got up too early yesterday morning (4:20 am) and spent New Year's Day at the Bosque with a couple of friends (including BPNer Keith Bauer). It was seriously cold (single digit temperatures with a bit of a breeze) but we had a great time anyhow! This was my first day in the field with good light and the new 1.4x III. It performed well but wasn't a noticeable improvement over the 1.4x II (this impression matches the one I came to when doing controlled comparisons of the two TCs at home). The ducks at Bosque are quite skittish and I was happy that when this male flew, he chose a flight path across a great BG that produced a few good frames for me. I tried to keep this image true to the RAW file; processing including a small saturation boost, some exposure adjustments, NR, and sharpening.

    Name:  20110101-_V5C8915-Northern-Pintail-crop.jpg
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    Canon 1D Mark IV, 600mm + 1.4x, f/7.1, 1/2000, ISO 400, manual exposure, hand held
    Last edited by Doug Brown; 01-02-2011 at 11:59 AM. Reason: Completed EXIF data
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    Avian Moderator Randy Stout's Avatar
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    Doug:

    Lovely bird, exposure, angle in frame, full down wing position, angling just right to show off both wings, few drops of water spraying, excellent.

    Well done!

    Cheers

    Randy

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    Gorgeous background, subject. Nicely positioned in the frame. I wish the shadow on the far wing wasn't so sharply defined by a hard line.

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    Fantastic image

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    Hi Doug. Randy you beat me to it. Let me add that I love those color tones, very cool:cool:

    Gary

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    Lifetime Member Doug Brown's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Mike Tracy View Post
    I wish the shadow on the far wing wasn't so sharply defined by a hard line.
    I agree with you Mike. I've got a couple of wings-up frames with no shadow, but they don't do justice to the color of the topside of the wing. Thanks for the feedback!
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    Avian Moderator Randy Stout's Avatar
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    Doug:
    I wonder if you could feather in the transition of that shadow a bit, break up the harsh edge, as the rest of the image is so strong, it wouldn't take much to make it a non issue.

    Cheers

    PS: What aperture?

    Randy

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    Fantastic image. Sharpness, exposure and pose are terrific but the smooth background with colors complementing the duck really adds a lot to the image. JR

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    Lifetime Member Stu Bowie's Avatar
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    Doug, tack sharp, and you always seem to capture the down stroke of the wings so well. I do like the flight angle here, and against a great BG. I guess when you come away with images like this, you forget about how cold it was.:) What was your aperture and ss?

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    All been said, a fantastic image with excellent detail. I would agree with the shadow edges thought but to be honest it's still looks great as is.

  11. #11
    Bryan Hix
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    I agree with all that has been said. Pintails are one of my favorites of the ducks. Great job and I am glad you commented about the new TCs. If I hear some more comments that echo yours, that will convince me it's not worth double the price for a new TC. Happy New Year.:)

  12. #12
    BPN Viewer Pieter de Waal's Avatar
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    Hi Doug, just love the colours in this image apart from the sharpness, detail in the plumage and great flying posture.

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    IOTY Winner 2010 Chris Kotze's Avatar
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    Excellent detail and colours. i like the BG and flight angle
    Chris Kotze

  14. #14
    Todd Frost
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    Fantastic image of one of my favorite ducks. Nice light and great bg.
    TFS
    Todd

  15. #15
    Brendan Dozier
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    Awesome, those wings look like they're made of silk!

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    Absolutely beautiful capture!! And thanks for the info on the 1.4x III - I think I'll wait until I get my hands on that new version of the 600/4 before upgrading :)

    Charles

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    Love the downstroke.
    Another great image as always.

  18. #18
    Rohan Kamath
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    All the critiquing has already been done so nothing different to add. Just that I really loved this image... One of my favorite ducks frozen so beautifully.


    -Regards,
    Rohan
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    Lifetime Member Doug Brown's Avatar
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    Appreciate the comments folks!
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    beautifully done Doug bhai.. loved it..

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    Doug, you nailed this one...BG, exposure, bird angle, wing position, details, subject placement, relative size of the duck in the frame(all easier said than done).....everything seems just right.

  22. #22
    Lifetime Member James Salywoda's Avatar
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    Sweet Shot!!!! Excellent detail bg and colors beautiful image of this elegant duck.:)

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    This is simply rock-star image Doug , Loved every pixel of this
    TFS

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