Turkey Vulture

Gallery: AvianPosted March 18, 2016138 views5 comments

They will not win any beauty contest, but vultures have to be considered the soaring champions. Spotted a small group flying over Funks Grove in Central Illinois. A combination of their being too far away and my slow tracking skills resulted in a lot of deleted images. The sky varied from bright blue to flat grey as the winds swept clouds over the area, which added to the challenge.

Canon T6i
1/1000 @ F-14 ISO 800
Sigma 150-600c OS @ 600mm
tripod

Comments

5 comments

Comment posted by Wayne Jones on March 18, 2016 at 12:05 PM

I don't know about beauty contests, but if you can get past what we know about their close-up looks, I think they are poetry in motion when I see them up in the clouds. Your composition captured that feeling well, like they are floating gracefully.

Is this a big crop? Looks like it would benefit from some noise reduction just on the background.

Registered on April 18, 2007, 953 Posts, 6435 Comments

Comment posted by Jim DeWitt on March 18, 2016 at 4:51 PM

Good to see that the Turkey Vultures are starting to move north. There's a lot of noise in the background; you don't describe post-processing so I can't tell if it is noise from the T6i or a heavy crop. Some noise reduction on the background might help. If you have Photoshop, you might also try teasing some detail out in the blacks with the Shadow/Highlights tool. Getting detail in a blackbird against aright sky is famously difficult. . .

Registered on August 28, 2006, 1240 Posts, 8506 Comments

Comment posted by Dennis Plank on March 18, 2016 at 8:02 PM

A very difficult exposure, John. I like the typical wing position and a relatively clear view of the head. I might brighten the bird just a bit.

devil

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

Comment posted by Jim Zablotny on March 18, 2016 at 8:03 PM

Hi John,

Looks like a fairly extensive crop. Some noise reduction on the sky and clouds should help. Composition is very good.............Jim

Registered on January 17, 2004, 705 Posts, 3594 Comments

Comment posted by Richard Sandor on March 18, 2016 at 8:25 PM

John: very good exposure and framing on a difficult subject, a dark bird against a bright sky. Just a bit of noise reduction on the background would be a nice improvement. Richard

Registered on January 12, 2014, 453 Posts, 1625 Comments