Sweet Light Harrier

[Doug Brown]

I photographed this Northern Harrier in the fading light of the day. I had gone to California to photograph raptors with Arash, but this was the only one we found. We only got one good look at the bird before we lost light. I performed a little clean-up work on the perch.



Canon 1D Mark IV, 600mm + 1.4x, f/5.6, 1/1600, ISO 1600, manual exposure, hand held

[Ofer Levy]

Stunning image! I would have been very happy with only one such shot from a trip...
Edit: just realised it's 600x1.4 handheld. I don't like you....

[Grace Scalzo]

Nice bird, lovely in that light. Take off pose is not often photographed and on that perch, what could be better? ISO 1600 looks pretty darn good.

[Bill Dix]

I opened this and said to myself "Stunning!", and then realized that Ofer beat me to the word. But stunning it is -- terrific wing position and HA. I love the way the coloration of Harriers just glows in late afternoon light, and you've captured it to a T.

[gail bisson]

This looks like a painting! Renaissance era lighting as well. If this was the only shot you got then wow!!
Gail

[Ben_Sadd]

I think this shot makes the trip still worthwhile. I love the golden light and the outstretched wings. As you have already performed some clean-up work, did you consider or try removing the oof grasses to the left?

[Mital Patel]

beautiful shot and yes this single image can fulfill the trip hard work.

superb pose light and perch doug. I see a little 1 stop exposed version .

[Dumay de Boulle]

Gorgeous bird in gorgeous light. I am seeing a bit of noise in the body and wing...This looks like a painting, beautiful pose and perch.

[Kaustubh Deshpande]

Doug, the golden light, raised wings, HA and eye-level shooting angle....all have come together to create a wonderful image.

[Thanaboon Jearkjirm]

Love the pose, the sharpness, perch and background with lovely late light. Seem to be a bit of noise but I wouldn't mind at all.

[Stu Bowie]

Hi Doug, great angled pose with raised wings, and you certainly captured awesome light. I like how the foliage curves across the frame.

[Jonathan Ashton]

Timing, pose exposure and detail - all excellent - a great shot.

[Raymond Lee]

Nice lighting and exposure! The noise is noticeable, but it's not too bad at all and it's well worth it to getting the shot versus not getting one at all. I'm quite stunned with the 600/4 handheld. That thing is heavy!

Cheers,
Raymond

[Arthur Morris]

Killer pose and sweet light and BKGR. The ISO 1600 is most noticeable in the brown of the neck which is pretty much without detail. Though it is against your religion a tripod here would have allowed for the use of ISO 400.

[arash_hazeghi]

Killer pose and sweet light and BKGR. The ISO 1600 is most noticeable in the brown of the neck which is pretty much without detail. Though it is against your religion a tripod here would have allowed for the use of ISO 400.

Hi Artie,
We processed this image with Doug and it came out nicely, this one for some reason is noisier than what we came up with here.
As for tripod, you would get zero shots in Half Moon Bay area if you try to use a tripod, you need to chase the harriers in the field and shoot in an instant before they fly away, the harrier will be gone before your tripod legs reach the ground, also the bird was landing so a slower shutter speed would have resulted in motion blur too

Very tough conditions, many people come to HMB but very few manage to capture an image, The harrier remained on the perch for maybe 3-4 seconds.

Doug did an excellent job!

[Arthur Morris]

Not sure either why so different. I do understand that you guys are running around after the birds while handholding big glass and I well understand that doing so allows you to capture lots of great action. My point was that had you been standing in the right spot with the lens on a tripod that you could have used a lot lower ISO. I have seen a few birds land over the past 35 years and this one looks as if it has landed and is holding its wings up (if only for a second or two).

[arash_hazeghi]

Not sure either why so different. I do understand that you guys are running around after the birds while handholding big glass and I well understand that doing so allows you to capture lots of great action. My point was that had you been standing in the right spot with the lens on a tripod that you could have used a lot lower ISO. I have seen a few birds land over the past 35 years and this one looks as if it has landed and is holding its wings up (if only for a second or two).

We wished we could figure out the flight path and wait until it came to us at the right spot but this juvenile was really skittish and light was almost gone. She didn't quite land peacefully and was just balancing herself on the bushes, she took off before I could get close enough (my 500 rig was short from where we were shooting) so I didn't even get one photo :(

I will post the version we worked on here later tonight. It is a healthy crop too.

[Arthur Morris]

Still a wonderful image.

[dankearl]

I notice the noise, but it would look fine printed, and the light and pose really makes up for it.

[Doug Brown]

Although I prefer to shoot hand held, I don't have a problem using a tripod. My tripod is an essential piece of equipment in Costa Rica. Half Moon Bay is one of the more challenging places to chase and photograph raptors. It's a very large area with lots of places for birds to perch. Setting up a tripod in one spot is not an option when there's only one bird to be found and that bird is flying in a loop that covers a very large area. Traipsing around in the dense, knee-high brush carrying a tripod is also not an option. The footing is uneven and you have to high step to move around safely. This is a situation where hand holding is essential to photographic success. Here's a photo of me at Half Moon Bay standing in the brush to give you all an idea of the shooting conditions.

[Cheryl Arena Molennor]

I love this image. The soft glow in that gorgeous light on those wings and face... Yum Could probably benefit from a little NR but still pretty good at 1600

[arash_hazeghi]

Here is my version

[dankearl]

Arash, at first glance the FG foliage bothered me, but it does add to the mood of the surroundings.
Yours is a smaller crop and does lessen the noise. Really fantastic light and colors.
A question for Doug, the SS of 1/1600 seems excessive for a landing shot in low light.
Wouldn't say, 1/1000 been adequate and been a lot less ISO?

[arash_hazeghi]

Arash, at first glance the FG foliage bothered me, but it does add to the mood of the surroundings.
Yours is a smaller crop and does lessen the noise. Really fantastic light and colors.
A question for Doug, the SS of 1/1600 seems excessive for a landing shot in low light.
Wouldn't say, 1/1000 been adequate and been a lot less ISO?

You can see the large size here, notice that you can see the fine hair in the beak area,

http://ari1982.smugmug.com/Other/ext...4_XDKp5zn-O-LB

I know you asked Doug but I take the liberty to answer, no 1/1000sec is not enough, not even with a 500mm let alone 600mm. For handheld photography at these focal lengths you need to be 1/1600 sec or faster at all times (preferably 1/2000sec or faster if there is enough light). Even at these shutter speeds most people cannot handhold a 600 rig and get a sharp photo, it needs lots of practice and mussel training :)

[dankearl]

Thanks for the reply arash.
In the gloomy Northwest, getting 1/1000 is the ideal, I can rarely get over that without a higher iso than I can deal with.
You are always informative, I appreciate it.
I Handhold all my photos, but just a 300 w/ a 2x, I cannot comprehend a 500 or 600 as I have never used one.
I also don't understand how anybody can use a tripod for bird photos, I am always moving, crouching and always
one step behind without a tripod!

[RakeshDhareshwar]

Definitely SWEET !! Almost looks like a painting . The raised wings , the HA , THE BG and the FG .....all perfect !!

[Arthur Morris]

Even at these shutter speeds most people cannot handhold a 600 rig and get a sharp photo, it needs lots of practice and mussel training :)

Just how do you train those tasty little mollusks?

[arash_hazeghi]

Just how do you train those tasty little mollusks?

haha I need to stop posting from my iphone, does anyone know how to turn off the stupid spell check???

[Arthur Morris]

Is Stupid Spell Check different from regular spell check? If yes, do you pay extra for it?

[Sidharth Kodikal]

Excellent pose and lovely light. Does look like a painting indeed. Repost with Arash's NR looks even better. How much of a crop was this if I may ask?

Arash, try Settings -> General -> Keyboard -> Auto-Correction/Check Spelling

[arash_hazeghi]

Is Stupid Spell Check different from regular spell check? If yes, do you pay extra for it?

No charge but it only comes with an iphone or an ipad

Thanks Sidharth, you saved me!

[Doug Brown]

How much of a crop was this if I may ask?

Thanks Sidharth. Arash's crop is probably a little over 3,000 pixels wide (an uncropped Mark IV image is 4,896 pixels wide).

[Sidharth Kodikal]

Thanks Doug. And retained the full 3264 pixels height-wise, I presume?

[Willem Verboom]

If this is the only picture of the my day I would be very happy with it. Noce pose en light. Very nice.

[Sidharth Kodikal]

Thanks Doug. And retained the full 3264 pixels height-wise, I presume?

Silly question. Take that back Just checked the aspect ratio.

[James Salywoda]

Gorgeous Shot!!!!! I love the pose and beautiful colors.

[Troy Lim]

Stunning image Doug. :) Hardcore shooter for sure.
I love everything about this shot, I would have been jus happy with this image from the trip too :)