Wood Stork + redo x2

Gallery: AvianPosted February 20, 2017239 views8 comments

Gainesville, Florida
2/7/2017 – 10:22:05 AM
Canon EOS 7D EF400mm f/5.6L USM
1/4000 sec; f/7.1; ISO 640 (I should have lowered the ISO since it was sunnier than it had been previously)
Manual; Evaluative metering
LR5, PS6, Topaz DeNoise on the background, Topaz Details on the bird separately on body and head, cropped a little from the left to de-center the bird

I wanted to get an image with room for the real and virtual feet, which for a bird this size walking around has not been easy. I think this one has room. The leg that is moving forward is actually complete, but I don't know if you can see it on the image at this size. If you see the light pink that is his foot. So there should be enough room for the other leg and foot.

Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you!

Comments

8 comments

Comment posted by Barbara Graham on February 21, 2017 at 5:06 AM

I realized that I think the green should be lighter to look better, so here is a repost using Curves to make the background lighter.

Registered on July 27, 2010, 1310 Posts, 5035 Comments

Comment posted by John Robinson on February 21, 2017 at 9:08 AM

Hi Barbara. definately the second one for me. Head turn would have been good but you take what you can get and it shows off that beak well whatever.
Cheers
John

Registered on March 2, 2008, 535 Posts, 2453 Comments

Comment posted by Steve Thompson on February 21, 2017 at 10:54 AM

Hi Barbara, the repost is an improvement and you may want to lighten the foliage just a little further even and see what you think. The whites in the stork look good to me and you did well with the "virtual feet". Just behind the head there is a bright oof white spot that draws my eye, easy fix. Well done!

Registered on August 7, 2014, 125 Posts, 2319 Comments

Comment posted by Richard Ditch on February 21, 2017 at 11:13 AM

The lighter version is better. I agree about the small white spot in the background just over tge shoulder - easy to subdue that.

I've noticed that you seem to always use f/7.1 with your 400mm lens and I wonder why? I know some lenses show much better sharpness stopped down from wide open (f/5.6 with this lens), but that doesn't mean you should always keep the lens at one specific aperture. In a case like this you might want to stop down further to get more depth of field (to make sure the large bill is in focus along with the eyes).

Registered on November 1, 2003, 1031 Posts, 12705 Comments

Comment posted by Barbara Graham on February 21, 2017 at 1:02 PM

Richard, you're right. I think I remember that I realized or read in the beginning that using f/5.6 was a lot less likely to be sharp (I tried using a tripod at one point but now I just handhold). In this case I had plenty of room to change the 1/4000 and the f/7.1 to get more depth of field, but I didn't even think about it. I'll try to remember that from now on.

Here is a redo with the bright spot removed and the green vegetation even lighter.

Registered on July 27, 2010, 1310 Posts, 5035 Comments

Comment posted by Steve Thompson on February 21, 2017 at 5:10 PM

I like #3 much better Barbara, well done!

Registered on August 7, 2014, 125 Posts, 2319 Comments

Comment posted by Jim DeWitt on February 21, 2017 at 7:10 PM

Lots of improvement from 1 to 2 to 3. The whites look just a little to grey to me, but I admit I'm not an expert on the color of Wood Storks. But you nailed the depth of field and the composition is excellent.

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

Comment posted by Dennis Plank on February 23, 2017 at 7:28 PM

Nice improvements in processing in these three posts, Barbara. An excellent shot of this bird.

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