COMMON RAVEN

[gary ellwein]

Nikon D7000, Nikkor 600mm, 1.4TC, f5.6, 1/160, iso640, bean bag on truck window. Cloudy, late afternoon waning light in the Lamar Valley of Yellowstone. Snow makes for challenging exposure, especially when the subject is dark ie ravens and bison. C& C appreciated

Gary

[Michael Gerald-Yamasaki]

Gary,

Greetings. I like the composition, but I wonder what a bit more in the front would look like. Some sparkles on the dark feathers distract... not sure what that is - noise? Black detail is pretty good considering the snow...

Curious... what metering are you using & any EV comp?

Cheers,

-Michael-

[Jeff Cashdollar]

Gary,

This is well done and the composition is very compelling, I love the small plant anchoring the image. The main issue for me is the eye, seems too light let's see what others say. I really like this picture, sharpness would make it stronger. I believe you can run up the ISO with a Nikon kit and bump up shutter speed to capture sharp feather detail. Not bad for 1/160 and a cloudy day - try some selective sharpening and work the eye.

This is a meter madness image, black bird in the snow - you did well with the exposure and the composition is beautiful - keep em coming.

[gary ellwein]

Michael and Jeff, thanks for the look. I metered off the snow and then compensated + 2 stops with no EV. The exposure was good. I reworked the post processing primarily using color efex pro 4 plus selective sharpening of the raven. I prefer the redo.

Gary

[Michael Gerald-Yamasaki]

Gary,
The main issue for me is the eye, seems too light let's see what others say.

Jeff, I was thinking that Gary caught the nictitating membrane closed.

Gary, like the repost... except more sparkly artifacts maybe from sharpening (or maybe I'm just looking too close ).

Cheers,

-Michael-

[Bill Dix]

I love the comp (although the border is a bit strong for my taste) and the Raven's pose and apparent low angle are terrific. Good job on the exposure. For me the biggest issue is the lack of sharpness. With the D7000 you certainly could have pushed the ISO and gotten some more SS (not sure that was the issue, but at 840mm and 1/160s, it certainly could have contributed). I'm sure you turned off the truck's engine before using it as a camera rest. The eye is also an issue - I don't know if the nictitating membrane was closed or if the eye is reflecting brightness from the snow, but a clear eye might have made the image seem sharper. Could probably be fixed with some eye doctor work.