What technical feedback would you like if any?
What artistic feedback would you like if any?
Pertinent technical details or techniques:
(If backgrounds have been removed, etc. please be honest with your techniques to help others learn)
John: this is an absolutely stunning image, with the pose of the bird against the oof background being exceptional. It’s a wall hanger! My only suggestion would be to reduce the size of the white border. Richard
Hi John,
I like the take-off pose and the perch, but IMO, the blurriness of the bird hurts this one. Looks like your shutter speed was too slow to freeze him, there’s been noise reduction run on the bird, and there’s a halo on the left side of him. The background is also a bit bright. Sorry if this come off as harsh. I don’t mean to be.
This does look more like a take-off than a landing, John. I like the graphics of the image, though I think a bit more space on the left and a corresponding amount off the right would help the balance a bit. As Lyle noted, the image quality is a bit low, but it looks rather painterly this way, and I’d be tempted to play with some of the artsy filters available and see if you can’t go a bit further in that direction (though first I’d remove that sharpening halo that Lyle mentioned).
A nice attempt at a difficult shot. At first glance it looks OK, but looking at it more carefully, it just doesn’t quite work. Bird isn’t quite as sharp as desired. There is a distinct halo on the left side of the bird that looks much like a composite artifact. I’m not suggesting it is a composite, but the artifacts look that way. Very difficult shot to pull off and kudos for the effort.
Thanks to all for all the helpful comments. Third Cardinal was jumping down from a higher limb. The artifact might be the result of cloning out the fairly large limb on the left side of the picture. Agree that brightness could be toned down. Using a fairly high shutter speed so the blur is probably from flowing the bird down to his target limb. . .maybe.?
Real nice try and nice position. One probably needs a minimum of 1600th to 2500th to reduce the motion blur. That all depends on how fast the bird is moving when it takes off or jumps. Jumps are easier but take off generally requires at least 1/2500 with a small bird like this.
Hi David, Thanks for the info. I’m finding out how difficult it is to shot a good wingspread, especially on landing. This photo was shot on 1/800 sec. and still has blurring. It is necessary for me to use automatic settings and tripod. Following the bird flight with my tripod was not as fluid as I might like. This could be a reason for blur. . . or not.
Much easier to handhold and follow than use a tripod. Practice with your 100 to 400 at 200 and without the extender. Then bump up to 400 and practice there. I almost never use my extender. It may get you closer but it could affect image quality. Thanks.
Thanks David, I will definitely try your suggestions .
Wayne