Roadrunner

[Ian Cassell]

Canon 7D
Canon EF400mm f/5.6L
1/2000 sec f7.1 ISO 400 HH

S/H and Sharpening in CS5

[Gus Hallgren]

Hi Ian;

So that's where my Roadrunners have gone in the last 2 years. Used to have them weekly for years, and suddenly they were gone.

Good looking Runner you have, he probably needed a manicure, so he hid his feet when he saw you taking his picture. Love his preening tail.

Thanks for sharing your capture with us.

Gus

[Ian Cassell]

Thanks, Gus. I knew someone would comment about the feet. These guys are so tough to get out in the open and the only one I got that exposed his body completely had his feet hidden by that stupid stick.

[nancy hazen]

Great shot. These guys are so cute. I've seen their tracks, but not them. He looks a bit startled here. Great job.
Nancy

[Julie Kenward]

Ian, nice capture! If you have other RR images you might think about cloning those feet onto this one! You never know until you try!

I think your aperture choice was very good - you managed to get good detail from his beak to his tail - but they are so close to their environment in color and texture that it leaves him really blending into the BG. Did you try any blur on the BG to see if that would help pull him out a bit more? You might also try an omni spotlight (filter/render/lighting effects) to spotlight him and make the BG float away into darkness. Here I used both, applying the light first and the blur second and then sharpening the head and eye a bit more.

[Ian Cassell]

Thanks Nancy and Jules. Jules, I like the way you handled the issue I was having with the separation from the BG.