Bufflehead Best

Gallery: AvianPosted March 10, 2017136 views8 comments

I believe that this is my best Bufflehead flight shot to date. Before I captured this image, I decided to try some different camera settings. In the past, I have used an aperture of f7.1 or f8 to maximize DOF. This required that I bump the ISO up to get a sufficiently fast shutter speed (> 1/2000s). I think the higher ISO and lower shutter speeds in my earlier captures did not allow for the best IQ. I decided I needed a very fast shutter speed and not so much DOF, as these guys are small and they are usually flying perpendicular to me. So, an aperture of f5.6 and a lower ISO of 640 allowed for a shutter speed of 1/5000s. Processed using Lightroom CC (2015) and Photoshop CC (2017) along with Light Craft's LightZone. Comments and critiques welcome.

Canon 1DX Mark II
Canon 200-400 f4 L IS
f5.6
1/5000s
Focal Length 560mm (Teleconverter Engaged)
ISO 640

Comments

8 comments

Comment posted by Ken Watkins on March 10, 2017 at 9:33 AM

Jerry,
Your new method has worked very well, it is one that I use myself when I remember!
I hate high ISO as detail is usually lost.
The main problem fir me is getting the bird in the AF point
A Beautiful image devil

Registered on December 15, 2010, 1537 Posts, 4877 Comments

Comment posted by Richard Ditch on March 10, 2017 at 4:15 PM

Very nice flight shot. A small duck, and a fast one, so a difficult subject to track.

Mu only issue is that the white on the side of the head and in the wing patch looks a bit funny, perhaps from doing some burning to bring down the exposure a bit.

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

Comment posted by Barbara Graham on March 10, 2017 at 7:27 PM

Very beautiful, very sharp and detailed.

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

Comment posted by Jim DeWitt on March 11, 2017 at 5:10 PM

It's a first rate flight shot. The whites look a little funky? Selective adjustments to exposure? The whites in Buffies are very tough...

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

Comment posted by Hans Overduin on March 12, 2017 at 1:10 PM

Wow... they get better and better... your approach seems to have worked pretty well sad

.. Great work, Jerry !

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

Comment posted by Kurt Bowman on March 12, 2017 at 2:56 PM

Very nice wing position on this drake Jerry. Love photographing these little "bullets". Nice work!

Registered on June 19, 2008, 1005 Posts, 8028 Comments

Comment posted by David Schoen on March 12, 2017 at 7:18 PM

I agree that this is one of your best Bufflehead Drake in-flight shots. You have enough detail that it appears that it was closer than some of your other in-flight duck shots. You're very lucky that they seem to fly perpendicular to you. One of my questions to you is are you on a river? And what is the typical distance between you and the ducks? Both your camera and mine are approximately 20 megapixels but yours is full frame and mine is 1.5 crop. I am seeing a big difference in quality based on enlargement from a 30% crop. Even though we both have 20 megapixels, your pixels are larger than mine. Interesting. I agree with Richard that the white's on the head seem a little off on this image. But you will get there. At least you have really good light.

Registered on November 6, 2006, 1213 Posts, 4587 Comments

Comment posted by Jerry Austin on March 26, 2017 at 10:02 AM

David,

Sorry it has taken me so long to respond to your questions. This image was taken on a small urban lake close to my house. The lake is narrow and long. I try to sit concealed in the middle section which is narrower. The ducks will sometimes fly by as they try to get to the other end of the lake. Sometimes I have to wait a long time, as I am on their time schedule.

Not sure the distance on this one, but it wasn't especially close. Most of my Bufflehead captures have been fairly large crops. I have a crop sensor camera also (7D Mark II). Once I got the 1DX Mark II, I did indeed miss the extra reach, but I noticed the 1DX image quality was much better than the 7D. The sensors of both cameras have about the same number of pixels. Maybe the less densely packed pixels on the full frame sensor perform better. Don't really know.

Let me know if you have any additional questions. Take care.

Jerry

Registered on January 6, 2012, 651 Posts, 3448 Comments