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Thread: Glass eyes and BIg Feet

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    BPN Member dankearl's Avatar
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    Default Glass eyes and BIg Feet

    Attached Images Attached Images
     
    I should probably be posting these in "Eager to Learn", as I have been really pushing the low light limit
    with the D800 and learning to process them.
    GH Owlet taken at Sunset in the woods.
    1/400
    f5
    500mm (300 f2.8 w/ 1.7x)
    ISO 5000
    Nikon D800
    Handheld
    60% crop
    NR on BG only, none on Owl.

    DSC_0240nx5.jpg
    Dan Kearl

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    I hesitate going beyond iso1000 on my 7D and your iso5000 looks quite good to me, all things considered. I, for one, am glad to see these high ISO owl shots...most educational indeed.

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    Dan

    A few thoughts...

    It appears the focal point is on the chest -- there appears to be significant dropoff in focus by the time you get to the eyes. Eyes are just on the margins and on the verge of softness.

    Talons, front of branch and leftside Fir branch as well as chest feathers all are in the critical focus plane.

    If it were me, I'd focus on the eyes. Maybe bump the depth of field up by trading off speed (its nearly stationary; but even at 1/400 you can get some bird movement ...and stopping down means a change to 1/200 for one stop more DOF) for a smaller aperature (f stop bigger in number)

    Also, I'm not familiar with your Nikon equipment -- have you/can you remap so you can do rear focus like Canon users do? That might be something to try. Or move the focus point onto the eyes/beak area?

    I think you did fine with noise -- if you wanted, a little masking and some noise reduction in the OOF areas and you'll have that part done.

    Best regards
    Don

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    BPN Member Bill Dix's Avatar
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    What a fuzzy little GHO, with his horns just starting to appear. Good point about the focus - the head looks a little soft compared with the belly (although the eyes look pretty sharp on my screen), exacerbated by the fact that the belly is getting more light. I wonder if a little more brightness on the head, and toning down the bright spot of the BG, might help? In any case, you did what you had to do to capture this guy in very difficult lighting conditions. I'd love to have it in my files.

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    Lifetime Member Marina Scarr's Avatar
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    You did quite well here with your conditions/limitations. I agree with Don's critique with regard to the critical focus. Aside from that, I would be quite happy with this capture. Lovely colors and the environment really works here.
    Marina Scarr
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    BPN Member Paul Lagasi's Avatar
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    Ditto on focus, but getting a young Owl like this more than makes up for it. Nice photo. Noise is great for 5000 iso.

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    BPN Member dankearl's Avatar
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    Thanks for the comments.
    Don, I think you are right about the focus, it was dark and i just aimed at the Owl.
    Also f5 is basically wide open and I didn't want to stop down and lose light.
    I also shot this vertically and I can't handhold much less than the SS I did when I do that.
    I am also just figuring the camera out, i used the full 51 point with single focus, I will probably start using
    less, 21 or 9.
    I can use rear button focus, just have not tried yet, I used it quite a bit with my D7000.
    Thanks for the suggestions.

    Dan
    Dan Kearl

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    I would be happy with this image too. I like the setting and results for such a high ISO. Well done Dan!
    Last edited by Jim Crosswell; 04-24-2012 at 08:39 PM.

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    Super Moderator arash_hazeghi's Avatar
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    looks nice Dan, the focus is fine, the talons appear sharper not because of focus but because you have applied NR to the feathers which has rendered them soft. Noise reduction is a double-edge sword if you apply too much it destroys the feather details.

    NR destroys low-contrast detail such as feather but it does not affect high-contrast edges such as the talons.
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    Macro and Flora Moderator Jonathan Ashton's Avatar
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    My first impression was that the image is a tad soft, I agree with Arash maybe if you apply a little less NR and a tad more sharpening the image will look great.

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    Too good shot loved the shine in the eyes. Luck to get this bird in good light .

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    Lifetime Member Marc Mol's Avatar
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    Quality looks good considering the circumstances Dan.

    Quote Originally Posted by dankearl View Post
    I am also just figuring the camera out, i used the full 51 point with single focus, I will probably start using
    less, 21 or 9.
    I can use rear button focus, just have not tried yet, I used it quite a bit with my D7000.
    Dan
    I use 9 point/single focus on both my D3s and D700 Dan, especially for action & BIF's.
    Also rear button for AF ONLY and front shutter button as shutter ONLY.


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    IQ is very very good for that ISO. some USM will help. great eyes and I like the BG...just the right amount of blur. Well done, Dan.

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