Harrier in Grey

Gallery: AvianPosted April 4, 201568 views5 comments

Hi all! Thank you for your comments and suggestions on my earlier post of this hawk, Seaside Harrier.

While this version probably won't do much for those of you who aren't loving the OOF foreground (actually there's even more of it here!), it's what I envisioned and wanted to create the moment I saw her perch here. I think Josiah will post one or two of his of this beautiful bird, and he chose a little different approach.

I couldn't bring myself to convert the earlier picture to black and white as I loved the incredible warmth of the light in that frame as the sun was bidding farewell to the British Columbia sky, so I chose an image from a bit later in the session after the warm directional light had left. I also wanted a less-contrasty file to work with and lightened it slightly for mood here.

One of these days I might post a "normal" avian image again.

Please view the LARGER version if you have time--and thanks in advance for your comments and suggestions.

Nikon D600
Nikkor AF-S 500mm f/4D IF-ED
ISO 800
1/50sec @ f/5
+0.7EV
Tripod mounted, Live-View AF and cable release for maximum sharpness
Cropped to app. 75% of original full-frame file (not shot on DX crop mode on this frame)

Comments

5 comments

Comment posted by Keith Bauer on April 4, 2015 at 10:16 AM

Hi John:

The B&W is very interesting on this image. I like the overall concept. Not sure about the amount of OOF foreground. I wanted to see what if might look like with a more pano crop (sorry that removed your logo). Just a thought on this crop?? I also tweaked the tones, but probably not going to be noticeable in this small version.

Registered on November 20, 2003, 458 Posts, 4836 Comments

Comment posted by Hans Overduin on April 4, 2015 at 12:03 PM

Hi John, I like your approach ! But to be honest, I think Keith's suggestion makes sense to me. The strong part for me is the fact that the bird's head sticks out above the field, showing that it's on top of it's territory. The lower part of the OOF foreground does not enhance this. So: a great image, pleasant approach (POV and B&W), but indeed a panorama crop works (even) better ! No need for posting 'normal' images - I appreciate that you share all your creativity with us ! Cheers, Hans

Registered on August 31, 2011, 491 Posts, 3807 Comments

Comment posted by Dennis Plank on April 4, 2015 at 12:10 PM

I like this a lot, John. The thing that makes the difference for me between this and your last post is the relative uniformity of the oof foreground. The darker blobs in the last post made areas that drew my eye, while this lets my eye slide on up to the more interesting part and stops it with the nice in focus band of vegetation and the Harrier. I'm probably on the side of the pano crop with Keith and Hans, but this works nicely also.

Registered on January 28, 2008, 1767 Posts, 23192 Comments

Comment posted by Luke Ormand on April 4, 2015 at 2:29 PM

I like the B&W treatment and the pose of the bird - but the large OOF area in the FG is too distracting for me - especially since there is little color/tonal difference

Registered on February 4, 2009, 1093 Posts, 7035 Comments

Comment posted by Patrick O'Healy on April 4, 2015 at 4:16 PM

John,
The OOF foreground is a wonderful addition to this photo. I think we commenters are more "focused", pardon the pun, on the technical aspects of a photo rather than the artistic. On that basis, I like it.

Registered on March 13, 2011, 326 Posts, 1679 Comments