Flying Pigeon

[Kevin Giannini]

Hello,

I took this this past summer at Kure Beach in North Carolina. These pigeons were gathering twigs and straw and building nests under the pier. They were zooming by really fast and while I captured a lot of side views, this was about the only head-on shot I got. I wasn't planning to take any birds this day, so I only had my walk around lens, the Canon 18-135mm IS. It actually focuses very fast using AI Servo, and I'm not sure I would have been as successful with my Canon 300mm f4.
Anyway, taken with the Canon 7D with the Canon 18-135mm lens at 135mm, f/6.3, 1/2500 sec and ISO 320 hand held. Cropped it quite a bit and did the usual adjustments using CS5.
BTW, my last post I had a lot of difficulty posting an image from pBase. If this image does NOT display, can you let me know, and also perhaps right-click on the image icon, and copy the address into your URL and see if it displays there? (EDIT) When I post this using preview and then post, the image DOES appear. It also appears when I go back into the post, but when I hit 'refresh' the image disappears. Does anyone know if there are issues when linking from pBase??
Thanks so much,
Kevin

[John Chardine]

Hi Kevin- Unfortunately I can't see the image. Could you try reposting.

[Kevin Giannini]

Hi John,

Thanks. It actually shows up for me now, but it comes and goes. I previously posted another image in "Black Skimmer" a few posts down, many times, and both Jeff and James have looked into why these posts are not working. I am trying to post from pBase. The image is 900x600px and 172kb. The image I'm linking to is this (without the asterisks) **http://i.pbase.com/g4/45/77645/2/139...SZGWLaJs.jpg**

Any ideas? I post from pBase to other forums with no issues - I'm beginning to think it may be the software used here. Are you aware of any problems posting from pBase?

Thanks,
Kevin

[Kevin Giannini]

Here is the same image from Image Shack. I wonder if this will work...

[Jeff Cashdollar]

Kevin,

I like this picture, it is original. Some do not like the flat wing position (often called pan-cake) it works for me. The twig in mouth is nice and I like its circular pattern. Nice clean eye and light on the head. What type of post production, did you run NR?

Congrats on getting the post to work. I have not heard of pBase who make it?

[Kevin Giannini]

Thanks Jeff - I'm glad this worked from Image Shack! I picked this image cause of the twig in the mouth. Most of the post process was done in ACR - I usually use NR there, plus clarity and vibrance among other controls. In CS5 I adjust levels again and up the contrast a little, and then sharpen and re-sharpen once I re-size for the web.
Thanks,
Kevin

[John Chardine]

Yes it works (I have had problems in the past helping people post images hosted on pBase; not sure what the problem is). The image is beautifully sharp and I like the design with the curved piece of vegetation in the bill. I also like the way the iridescent feathers on the next are lit up. Well done.

Jeff- pBase is an image hosting website. They charge an annual fee but there is no advertising. They have been around for quite a while.

[Michael Gerald-Yamasaki]

Kevin,

Greetings. The twig makes it for me , the curves are just right. I particularly like the color. Something a little strange is going on with the sky... maybe jpeg'ed noise?

Cheers,

-Michael-

[Kevin Giannini]

Thanks everyone. Michael - yes, the sky does look a bit peculiar here - the original print size (and even the web size) viewed in PS look okay, or at least not as bad. I wonder if Image Shack may have done something with compression, although a lot of people post from there, and they don't seem to have problems.
I did apply luminance NR in ACR, but used the default setting for color NR. Maybe I'll have to experiment more.
Kevin

[Michael Gerald-Yamasaki]

Thanks everyone. Michael - yes, the sky does look a bit peculiar here - the original print size (and even the web size) viewed in PS look okay, or at least not as bad. I wonder if Image Shack may have done something with compression, although a lot of people post from there, and they don't seem to have problems.
I did apply luminance NR in ACR, but used the default setting for color NR. Maybe I'll have to experiment more.
Kevin

Kevin, One sure fire way to solve this problem is to join BPN & have them host your images for posting... one of the benefits of membership (you can download the jpeg right from your machine in the add image dialog when posting).

Cheers,

-Michael-

[Kevin Giannini]

Michael,

I think I will do this. There's a lot to learn here.
Thanks,
Kevin

[David N Smith]

Nice capture Kevin. I agree with John, it is in excellent focus and the iridescent feathers are wekk lit.

Dave