D2xs 80-400mm vr @ 340mm, iso 100, f/7.1 at 1/60 ev0.33, matrix metering, aperature priority, wb cloudy. Bean bag in truck window. processed ACR,cs5, lighten eye area, cloned out branches on left, bottom right and across mid-breast. Comment and suggestions sought. Thanks for looking.
Craig
1. from your settings iso 100, f/7.1 at 1/60 ev0.33 I see you photographed this guy at 1/60 sec.
I would trade for bit of shutter speed by kicking up the ISO.
2. Out of focus branches in the foreground. I dont know if you had an opportunity to avoid them or not. I would scout around and find and shooting angle to avoid those two branches.
Sid, thanks for the good comments, I shoot a D2xs, and try not to go above iso 320 for noise, I did take images at iso 100, 200, 320, and 400. I started by processing this one beings it was fairly sharp. I took this image at Ridgefield NWR's auto tour, your movements are limited to your vehicle and the road, I can't wait until the walking trail opens so you can work the subject better.
Thanks again all great things to remember.
Craig
I like the detail, though it seems a bit underexposed. I might try some CW rotation to make the bird vertical, it seems to be leaning to the left. Too bad the OOF branches block the view. Have you ever tried pushing the exposure, in other words expose to the right and try to avoid clipping, and then fix the exposure in post processing? There is a big advantage in higher ISOs and I would guess ISO 800 shouldn't be a problem, just as long as you never underexpose the image. regards~Bill
wow - impressive detail and sharpness - i struggle to get things sharp at 1/60th without locking down the tripod. Love the ruffled white feathers on his breast and those sharp talons. Do you have the latest version of ACR? The newest version is supposed to deal with noise better than the older ones, I took some pictures of a bird to ID, at a much higher ISO than my d300 handled well, but was able to get quite reasonable pictures with the latest version of Lightroom, and my understanding is that ACR and LR are almost the same code, with different user interfaces.
Good points made by everyone, Craig. I think the bird here is beautiful but I agree it feels a little underexposed. The main problem for me is not just that the branches are OOF in the FG but that the branch the bird is standing on feels disconnected from the others because of the angle. If you had even moved a bit more left or right you might have been able to make where the foot is sitting make a little more sense - but then I bet there were more branches in those places or you would have done it, right?
Good job on the cloning, though. I'm hard pressed to see where you did anything...way to go!
Juvenile Bale Eagle
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