Just for fun – a happy accident from 2016 stumbled across in the current deleting binge. I decided it was worth saving. I didn’t remember it and may have just been scanning thru the images at 100% to delete the less sharp ones and never saw the interloper.
Specific Feedback Requested
All comments welcome!
Technical Details
Canon 1DX2, 100-400 + 1.4X at 560, f/8, 1/1600, ISO 1600. Redone in the newest LR Process Version, minimal tonal adjustments, into PS for denoise and to tone down the reed. Cropped from the top and right to about 75% of the original frame. Added canvas on the left – I just barely caught the wingtip.
Glad you retrieved it from near oblivion! Funny how we evaluate with such narrow focus sometimes and then if we go back with a different frame of mind or ideas we can see things differently. Plus new software can help some photos that might be on the edge of acceptable. I hear Topaz is going to put sharpen and denoise AI together in one app, like ON1 does with theirs. That might be a game-changer, too in terms of flexibility and ease of use.
Ok…enough of that. These two look great at the different angles. The colors are brilliant, yet natural. Enough sharpness in the main subject and I feel that because I can imagine the incoming ‘fly, I don’t mind the softness there. Plus it was on the move and that’s hard to do, especially with older cameras where nothing was automated to the degree it is now. Super.
I understand recovering old photos we might have ignored before. And, as @Kris_Smith noted, software programs are getting better and better at processing “marginal” photos. However, I don’t feel this one is marginal. Good details where it counts, a nice background, and a good perch. Looks like a winner to me.
Diane, I love the name you gave this because the one on the limb has his right front foot up as if he is waving to his friend that is passing by. Really neat shot and I’m glad you reclaimed it from the archives.
Diane, this is a good look at a “my perch” discussion. While I’ve routinely seen Blue Dashers get into perch fights with Eastern Pondhawks and other DFs, this is the first time I’ve seen two Pondhawks going at it. The double stigma in the flyer’s wing is a give away about your fix.
