Pintail Couple in flight

Image Critiques Avian Critiques
1

Taken this morning at a refuge in the Pacific Northwest.

What technical feedback would you like if any?

any

What artistic feedback would you like if any?

any

Pertinent technical details or techniques:

iso 400, 100-400 plus 1.4X at 560mm, f8, 800th, 9am, A7RX3, handheld, 50% full frame, ACR, Topaz AI Clear and Adjust, TK sharpening at 10%.

a7r3-2-pintail-copy
a7r3-2-pintail-copy2000×1302 2 MB

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1 Like
2

hi David!

This photo caught my eye right off the bat, I love photographing waterfowl especially in flight. You have a really great image here I blew it up and it looks sharp I like the blur on the background just fine. I like the fact that the background is nice and simple.

The only thing I can think of that would make the image even better is a little more real estate to the right of the birds. That would give them something to fly into. Apart from that I wish this was my image. LOL

3

Very good, David. It looks like the tide was cooperating this morning. I really like the wing positions and for once, shooting down on everything worked out well. I just noticed the camera model. Did you go out and trade that Fuji in for a Sony?

4

Thanx Jim. More space on the right was my alternative crop. I generally prefer space to fly into but with 2 birds, sometimes I go for the center crop so the birds look larger in the frame.

5

An excellent image all around, David. The stop action clarity is wonderful…:+1:

6

David I don’t know if you’re using Photoshop but are you familiar with how to add real estate on the side of an image using the content-aware tool? Though I do understand what you mean about having the subjects larger in the frame.

7

Very nice! Birds and light are beautiful. IQ looks good, even for the large-ish crop. I’d prefer the BG to be a bit more OOF and for the female to not be flying into the brown transition. The BG also looks a little noisy. Only other nit is that the whites on the male’s neck look a little hot (they might not actually be blown, but they do look like they’re on the edge).

8

‘‘This is a 50% crop so there is plenty of RE outside. I frequently use content aware crop when that is not the case. The current composition is simply another choice…

9

I agree with you but the camera setup prevents anything under f8. 100 to 400 with f5.6 being minimum aperture at 400 plus 1.4 extender gives one a minimum aperture of f8. So the trade off for less weight and no mirror is increased DOF.
Yes one could use post processing to decrease DOF but not as good as the real thing…

BTW, this was my first day using this camera.

10

Hi David, really nice capture with both birds in focus and on the wing. Sharpness held up well considering the crop. Background and DOF work fine for me. A nice frame.

11

Got you, but I think the DoF in this case is much more impacted by the distance to the birds and the “short-ish” focal length. Nothing you could do besides tell the ducks to come closer! On the flip side, it helped keep both ducks in focus. Really nice frame for the first day with a new system, regardless. Looking forward to more and your thoughts on Sony as an avian system.