Spoonbill

[David Gancarz]

From Shiloh Marsh at Merrit Island NWR. Other than lots of sandpipers feeding on horseshoe crab eggs (?) it was very quiet. On the way out this single spoonbill posed. You just never know what you will find. Followed Artie's Digital Basics advice with a layers adjustment, some selective lightening on some shadows on the bird's back. and a +8 saturation boost. It is much improved from the out-of-the-camera version. All c&c welcome.

Date/Time Original : 2011:04:03 09:12:36
Camera Model Name : NIKON D300
Lens ID : AF-S Nikkor 300mm f/4D IF-ED w/ 1.4TC
Shutter Speed : 1/800
Aperture : 8.0
ISO : 200
White Balance : Auto
Focus Distance : 19.95 m
Depth Of Field : 0.71 m (19.60 - 20.31)
Auto Focus : On
Focus Mode : AF-C
Shooting Mode : Continuous
AF Area Mode : Dynamic Area (21 points)
Exposure Program : Aperture-priority AE
Exposure Compensation : -2/3
Exposure Mode : Auto
Vibration Reduction : Off
Flash Mode : Did Not Fire
Quality : RAW
Color Space : Adobe RGB
GPS Longitude : 80 deg 47' 51.33" W
GPS Latitude : 28 deg 45' 45.54" N
GPS Altitude is reporting 47 meters. Should have been sea level!!!

[Troy Lim]

David, nice shot of the bird. Not crazy about the square crop. I would add more room to the right.
Also, there is halo around the bird. How much sharpening did you apply?

[Brendan Dozier]

Very nice capture, David! Colors and detail look great, and like the reflection.

[David Gancarz]

David, nice shot of the bird. Not crazy about the square crop. I would add more room to the right.
Also, there is halo around the bird. How much sharpening did you apply?

Yes, square crops don't always work out so well. I think I will play around with adding a little canvas to the right. The only sharpening was to the eye and during downsampling. I do see the halos you mention -- on the top of the back and on the lower breast. These are probably due to imprecise (read, sloppy) selective lightening of shadows there. Thanks for your expert comments.