Five 7D/400 DO Hooptie Deux Images

[Arthur Morris]

All of these 7D images were created on an Alafia Banks trip last Sunday with the handheld 7D/400 DO combination. All were created at ISO 400. Each needed noise reduction on the BKGR and four of the five needed NR on the shaded areas of the bird. Do keep in mind that when exposing for whites in the sun both the sunlit middle tones and the shaded light tones will, by necessity, be well underexposed (this introducing noise).

Which is your favorite and why?

For the Pane 1 image "Dropping Down": 1/1600 at f/7.1. Created at 9:41 am.

 

[Arthur Morris]

For the Pane 2 image "Midair Turn": 1/1600 at f/8. Created at 10:02 am.

 

[Arthur Morris]

For the Pane 3 image "Wing-tips Up": 1/200 sec. at f/8. Image created at 9:44 am.

 

[Arthur Morris]

For the Pane 4 image "Tight Square Flight": 1/1600 at f/9 at 9:42 am.

I ran NR on the BKGR and followed that with about a 40 pixel Gaussian Blur on the BKGR. That of course spilled over onto the bird so using a Layer Mask (I learned to use them from APTATS II) I used great care to erase the effect from the bird. I used a very similar same technique on the Swallow-tailed Gull image here: http://www.birdsasart.com/bn294.htm

 

[Arthur Morris]

For the Pane 5 image "Tight Flight": 1/1600 at f/9 at 9:42 am. It is fairly obvious that for the Pane 4 and Pane 5 images that I failed to follow my own universal advice for better flight photography: pan faster!

I leave for two weeks on Midway Island on Sunday and am tremendously excited about the trip. I will see you all when I get back.

 

[Scott Frye]

I like Midair Turn (Pane 2) because it's the most interesting pose and best shows off anticipated action. This off kilter pose against that blue sky catches my eye and holds my attention longer that the other poses

 

[Jim Neiger]

I like the topside bank with the green bg. I'm a sucker for dorsal view and non sky bgs.

 

[Ilija Dukovski]

First #2, great action and pose, but the overall composition actually works very well for me.
#4 is excellent of course and it would be #1 if all of the BG was green.

Cheers,

 

[Marina Scarr]

For me Pane 3 is the most unique, but I find Pane 4 to be the most stunning spoonie with the pose and light being perfect...although maybe a tad more room if you have it. What was your ISO setting on these?

 

[Stu Bowie]

Each image has its own characteristics.
#2 Good banking angle, and I like the contrast
#3 Unique showing of the spoon from the headon approach
#4 good diagonal banking angle and separated from the BG nicely.

 

[Manjesh Lingamurthy]

Hi Artie

Love all four shots. Best thing I love about these is the composition. Image is so well balanced, your eye just is on the bird all the time with no distraction. Very well exposed, with beautiful details.
My favourite is image 3, because it is unique and you can see both eyes, with nice details in the backlit bird. Even though the underside of the bird is in shadows, you have managed so much detail in there, especially the wings and the eyes.

Manjesh

 

[Arthur Morris]

For me Pane 3 is the most unique, but I find Pane 4 to be the most stunning spoonie with the pose and light being perfect...although maybe a tad more room if you have it. What was your ISO setting on these?

Thanks all so far for playing. And thanks Marina: I thought that I had written "All at ISO 400" in the first pane but obviously did not. I shall add it for those who do not read all the comments.

 

[Christian Dionne]

Very hard to decide which one I like the most, I can say that #2 is my least favorite one, I think I would like a little more room under, otherwise, the details of the wings a superb.

# 4 and 5 are quite stunning, maybe a little tight but the details are just amazing and the BG of #4 is beautiful and complement the subject very well.

I also like #3 for it's unusual view, very nice job on getting the details of the under wings.

I like #1 for the eye contact and I also like the way we see the bill. The lines are beautiful and the contrasts are spot on.

I think I will go with #4 for the complementary BG.

I myself would be in heaven if I had a shot half as good as these...

Amazing job Arthur, as usual!

 

[scott benson]

pane 4 for me, but there all stunning.
well done.

 

[Kaustubh Deshpande]

Pane 1 for the pose, diagonal strong comp and colors. I liked pane 3 a lot too. quite different.

 

[Deborah Hanson]

For me:
#1 - wing detail and eye contact are positives,
- shadowed area and colors not a dominant feature are negatives.
#2 - negatives are that the head gets lost and the colors are not a dominant feature,
- positives are the feather detail, wing position, and that the clouds and bird movement are both diagonal.
#3 - wing spread and detail are positives,
- face angle, shadows, and ambiguous bill are negatives.
#4 - positives are that the bird 'pops', the colors are great, wing detail, tail feather spread, eye contact and neck angle.
#5 - same as #4 in positives but notice the shadowed area.

My positives and negatives are not necessarily the same as what others look for, but #4 stands out for me. #5 I like as well. When looking at a photograph of a bird like this I would look for rich colors in the image first.

Deb

 

[arash_hazeghi]

i like #4 because of wing position and top view. might also sharpen the primaries a bit more. #1 works for me as well.

 

[Gary Esman]

I prefer the lighting on number 4 and the trees seem to anchor the shot a little more.

 

[Alan Stankevitz]

#4. Blurred background is pleasing and gives the image a 3-D effect.

Alan

 

[david cramer]

I'm also a #4 fan, for the added color bg, the beautiful full wingspread, and the lack of shadows. All of them are keepers in their own unique way.