Dovekie Gem Found

[Arthur Morris]

While I was home recently for an unprecedented six weeks--heck, I am in Orlando Airport heading to Homer right now--I finally got around to final edits for about 7 To Transfer trip folders so that I could get then onto the Drobo that houses our collection. In the course of doing so I found a few hidden gems like this one.

This image was created with the tripod-mounted Canon 800mm f/5.6L IS lens, the 1.4X III TC, and the EOS-1D Mark IV. ISO 400. Evaluative metering +1/3 stop (in the soft light of 12:46 am! on June 25, 2011): 1/1000 sec. at f/9 set manually. Gitzo 3530 LS tripod and Mongoose M3.6 head. Lens micro-adjustment: 0. Central sensor (by necessity)/Rear Focus/AI Servo AF.

Don't be shy: all comments welcome.

To see a few more of the gems that I found, click here.

To learn why you might not be able to enjoy autofocus with the newly announced Canon EOS-1D X with a 1.4X TC on an f/5.6 lens or a 2X TC on any of the f/4 super-telephoto lenses (including the new ones) see EOS-1D X Revelations here.

[Gerald Kelberg]

Hi Artie,

Sweet image of the Dovekie - love the pose and the perfect exposure. But there does appear to be a halo around much of the bird - sharpening or NR, perhaps.

Have a wonderful time in Homer!

[Arthur Morris]

Thanks Gerald, I am seeing a very narrow halo around most of the black feathers but only when I tilt the screen. Tilting the screen is a violation ! Surely from the generic sharpening in my f/3 action. Have a great time in Svalbard next year!!!

[Ofer Levy]

Lovely pose and excellent exposure! Sweet BG too. Looks like something went wrong during resizing as IQ is not great - some serious jpeg artefacts around the head and back and some other artefacts on the BG. I am sure the original looks much nicer. Would also like to see the bird a bit higher in the frame.

[Chris Martinez]

I agree with Ofer. This is not to the usual high standard of your posts Arthur(in regards to image quality). Considerable posterization in the background, the halo(as mentioned) and for ISO 400 the bird itself looks not so good. I'm sure your personal files are of the highest quality.

The bird is super cute and the pose is very cool.

[Marina Scarr]

Love the subject, the pose, the perch and the BG. Halo all down the topside of the bird, but imagine it can be remedied. Very interesting white eyelid and love the fact the bird is calling. It adds a lot.

[Stu Bowie]

Artie, good exposure throughout the dovekie, and I do like the calling pose, and that we can see inside the beak. I can also see the halo at the back of the head, together with the posterization.

[Norm Dulak]

This is an interesting subject in an interesting pose. But the technical issues mentioned by Gerald, Chris and Ofer unfortunately detract substantially from the image as posted.

[Dumay de Boulle]

Totally agree with Ofer here..Artifacts very noticeable and IQ is sub standard for you. Not sure if its a large crop (maybe that would explain IQ) but if so I feel the comp is not working here, I would move the bird up in the frame to strengthen! Great BG and cool looking bird but if your original is like this its a missed opportunity im afraid. Exp and pose look good.

[Raymond Lee]

Great shot Artie! Just too darn cute! Love the background, the pose, and the exposure. I'm sure it's been mentioned already, the background has some gradient halos. Also the bird itself seems sharp and detailed in one area but lacking in another area, probably something went wrong after resizing, especially from full resolution to smaller resolution. Happened to me a few times here already.

Raymond

[Sidharth Kodikal]

Artie, excellent pose, exposure and bg color. The expression is priceless. I like the comp as is.
The JPEG artefacts are already mentioned. The image size as posted seems to be < 75 KB.
Not sure if you chose to post it at that size or if the server did it for you :)
Would love to see this one reposted with the sizing issue sorted out.

[Arthur Morris]

Agree 100% on the poor IQ, a result of workflow errors caused by awakening at 4am to fly to Homer, AK in a single say from Orlando, FL.

This--a slightly different crop, should be much better.

[Kaustubh Deshpande]

Artie, pose, exposure and shooting angle are excellent. I think we can attribute IQ issues to the jpg compression. I like how you've placed the subject in the frame.

[Jay Gould]

Thanks Gerald, I am seeing a very narrow halo around most of the black feathers but only when I tilt the screen. Tilting the screen is a violation ! Surely from the generic sharpening in my f/3 action. Have a great time in Svalbard next year!!!

Mate, you mentioned tilting the screen; have you seen/do you have this product - makes a significant difference!

PS: sure is a cutie!!

[Ofer Levy]

Repost looks fantastic!!!!

[Cheryl Arena Molennor]

How cool is that? Repost took care of the problems and I really like it.

[Dumay de Boulle]

Big improvement, very nice Arthur!

[Kasra.Ha]

Fantastic shot, very nice pose, perch and BG , Everything excellent . TFS

[Chris Martinez]

Ahhh, that's better.

Beautiful!

[Raul Padilla]

is wonderfull the black detail and texture, very delicate balance

[Harshad Barve]

What to not like here Guru , terrific
TFS