The photographer is looking for generalized feedback about the aesthetic and technical qualities of their image.
Description
The first subject on my Eastern Sierra trip last week was the Osprey nest at Navy Beach on Mono Lake. There are two more nests (that I found) but this one had the best chance for a good light angle. I stayed some distance away and don’t think I was a significant disturbance as she appeared to be calling for food service before I got past the parking lot. I don’t think there are any fish in Mono Lake; it is about 7 miles to Grant Lake and more like 15 to Lundy, so food service must be a chore.
Specific Feedback
All comments welcome!
Technical Details
Handheld. There was a strong wind and the air quality (moisture from the lake and thermal turbulence) wasn’t the best but I got a number of decent images, with the catchlight showing no motion blur. Minor global tonal adjustments in LR; into PS for denoise. Cropped to 22% of the full frame!
Wow that’s an awesome capture of this gorgeous creature at 1000mm! Lots of great detail of the top as well as the underside of the wings. And I love the posture, with the “landing gear” fully retracted.
Framing is top. Great NR. It looks very natural. The beak and legs+talons are nice and sharp. I feel the eye may benefit from very subtle sharpening?
22% of the FF. This means you have around 1,800x1,200px left?
Wow…excellent details - especially for such a large crop. And in-flight, to boot! That’s a good shot, in any case, but handheld, that’s a helluva shot! Very well done.
I neglected to say the nictitating membrane was half closed (isn’t it always in the best shots?) and I cloned in the eye from a subsequent frame.
The LR filmstrip shows 41 frames (in a time frame of 12 minutes) that have survived deletion so far, with more of the deletions being for bad flight positions, similars and bad light angle than for poor focus or motion blur. I’ll credit the camera and lens for a lot of that, along with the subtle sharpening in Topaz Denoise. I wasn’t expecting to get much in the harsh light almost 3 hours before sunset. I was doubtful it would be worth the half-mile slog through rough sand. I’m glad I didn’t listed to myself.
Very good, Diane. Beautiful detail in the osprey and you chose a frame with very nice wing position. While you might nitpick the eye substitution, it’s really unnoticeable when viewed from a respectful distance.
Hi Diane, thanks for the precision. 3873 x 2507 pixels is not too bad. I moved on from compact to FF 2 years ago (A7R4), and find myself having to crop to such an extent in some situations that I would have been better off - or equally well off - using a compact camera, particularly as regards resolution, DOF, noise and even shutter speed! Never mind cost and weight…!
That said, I don’t know if there would be a compact/hybrid with a 1000mm focal length x2, though with a large crop factor the focal length needed would be significantly shorter. I once looked at some compact cameras with digital super zooms but don’t know how well they perform. In any event, it’s quite a feat to get such a sharp shot handheld and from such a distance. Amazing really!
Second eye from an earlier frame looks great to me. I’d never heard the term catchlight before. Is it the reflection of the sun in the bird’s eye in this case?
Thanks, @LauraEmerson! Yes, the catchlight is the reflection of the sun. It’s a good indicator of motion blur, except when it is at the very edge of the eye it is irregular due to the reflective soft tissue that meets the cornea.
Frame size or format is such a quandary, with so many trade-offs. In between full frame and compact bodies there is APS-C and Micro 4/3. I have so many lenses and filters from the last century (when the debate was between full frame or medium format) that I’ve just stuck with FF bodies. But smaller formats are very good now – it all depends on what you need vs. what you can carry. Lower noise used to be a big factor but software is remarkable in that regard now. Dynamic range is better with sensors with larger photosites. When I load my backpack for a day hike I have to decide what I need because it won’t all fit, and even then it’s often I can barely pick it up. Someday I’ll need to go lighter because I’m older than dirt, but I’m also too old to want to learn a new system.
Wow that sounds like commando, but it’s a heck of a lot better than going to a smelly indoor gym to lift weights!
Same for me. One day, I’ll have to go to the beach like normal people do… but not just yet!
My Sony A7R4 has a crop mode. I’m not sure if it fully acts like a crop sensor (it should!). DOF is pretty much the same, but the continuous focus is definitely more accurate in crop mode. I haven’t got Topaz Denoise yet, so it sounds like I should get it. Thanks for the info.
@LauraEmerson – oh no – I wish I was fit enough to be a commando – mentally scale my “day hikes” back to those of a 3/4 scale “older person” and if I can’t pick up the pack I’m definitely scaling back what I’ll carry. And I’m definitely going to be back in civilization by happy hour. Maybe a day amble would be more accurate. Lots of stops for pictures.
A crop sensor should be the same as cropping in post, but it will give a better (more magnified) view in the viewfinder. Interesting that it improves focus accuracy. I have the same mode (on a Canon) and haven’t used it. I should mess with it.
@Diane_Miller There is a time for everything… Nothing lost, young and frenetic and determined, we miss a lot too…
Well, crop mode improves continuous focus accuracy on my Sony A7RIV. I think it’s because it’s a much lighter load than the 61MP of the FF. Let me know if you find that too with your Canon.
@Laura, I’m making a note to try the crop factor and will report back! As far as beachgoing is concerned – yuck! Who wants to look at all those disgusting bodies that are normal people? A sweaty, smelly gym would be better but I’ll take a pass on both. There are still a few secluded beaches. Fortunately, the more crowded they are with “normal people” the more they appeal to “normal people”, leaving a small slice of nature for the rest of us.
Hi @Diane_Miller, sorry I missed this! Well that 's a rather strong and unexpected misanthropic response, but one with which I quite (yeah right, wholeheartedly) agree I do have a secluded beach (actually a rocky shore) , where I a spent the whole day yesterday and bar a few people who came and left and were no trouble at all, I had it all to myself for the most part, which was heaven. But I shudder to think of the rest of the summer when more people will inevitably visit that spot. It is still bearable, but for how long? It’s a genuine worry, and I either catch myself cursing under my breath at the sight of visitors (both local and tourists) and /or pray for mercy!
The reason why I said “go to the beach like normal people do” is that I do work in the water which is great, but physically very demanding. Quite crazy stuff really…
Let me know about focus accuracy and crop mode. It may all be in my imagination for all I know. I am not a very experienced photographer (I’ve only doing this for 5 years, and getting serious with it for about 3) and… I sometimes have crazy ideas (generally speaking!)
@Laura, apologies – I suspect your European beach-goers are more civilized (civilised – your spelling is even more refined) than ours, as are the beaches. As summer descends on the US, especially the major east coast cities, it’s hard to watch the evening news without seeing a huge, flat, completely uninteresting beach that goes on forever, with a backdrop of soulless high-rise buildings, and throngs of hundreds to thousands of ugly bodies spaced maybe 3 ft apart, baking in the sun. The hotter the better. Ugly Americans! Those are the normal people over here, if you judge normalcy by the statistical average.
Haven’t had time to pick up the camera yet – maybe tomorrow.
@Diane_Miller Oh Diane, what a description… not one I will forget soon!
The East Coast never appealed to me as far as the water is concerned, but I never imagined the beach scenery… you certainly won’t catch me there… straight off to the Caribbean instead!
The sun is dangerous as well… crazy! When I spend a day on the rocks and in the water, I try and protect every inch of my body. I even a mask with UV glass to protect my eyes. It’s not a joke!
but not just yet!
