I stopped by the pond today, after an absence of exactly a month, and the resident GBH was back. I saw him from about 300 yards, and immediately picked up the gear and headed his way. Just as I was about to get within shooting range, he took off. I had to set the tripod down, unlock the big Wimberley, and fire off my shots. They were pretty badly underexposed, and honestly, not all that steady. They are however, the first birdie flight shots I gotten in a while, so I'm posting them anyway. 8) I need to practice. :roll:
Flight shots are like a great golf shot, rare & so hard to do, but oh, so satisfying. Whatever you did, they turned out very good. So, fess up about the post work, Frank. Positive EV Comp? DEE? N.I.? :wink:
And the funny part is you could have left your pod behind if I read your exif correctly. That'll teach you to leave your EV at -1.3!
Thanks for the kind words everyone. I had been shooting some white ducks in direct afternoon sunlight when I spotted this guy. That's the reason the EV was at -1.3. I expected to adjust that when I got down to the GBH, but never got the chance. By the time I got to the end of the pond where he was, it was cloudy, so the shots were under-exposed by about 3/4 of a stop. Steve, all I did in PP was add back the 3/4 stop, give it mild gamma boost (1.08 I believe), and set the black point in NC. I then cropped and resized it in PS CS, added USM using the FM Intellisharpen II plug-in, and did one last curves tweak. Nothing really that severe except for the 3/4 stop EV boost. Regards,
Hey Frank - I was going to say "I wish my bad ones were this good" but everyone else stole my line. Were you using the 300/2.8? I assume so because you were using the Wimberley. The number of replies shows that you've got a great reputation here - well deserved. I posted a GBH shot and only one response. Oh, well, maybe when I start taking and posting better images. I thought it was a conspiracy against GBHs, but you've disproved that! Gordon
I want you to teach me how to shoot such underexposed out of focus shots. Really, I must need new glasses or something because those shots look pretty darn good to me. Great work!
Gordon, I'm so sorry!! :? I looked at your post, and thought I responded. I thought that it was a pretty decent shot. I'll do better next time. I was using the 300 2.8 with the 1.4 TC for these shots. That's about my favorite combo for flying birdies. Thanks for the kind words. ;-)
Frank, your bad shots are even good! :x Maybe you should lay off the birdies and keep practising your macros so we other birders can catch up to you some (or at least try to close the gap some). :twisted: j/k -- your flight shots are what I strive to achieve!
Frank - No need to be sorry! I was joking around with my comments. Except for the one about your well-deserved reputation. If you haven't, done this already, go back to my GBH and critique it. Only one way to learn! :idea: Gordon
I would love to get any picture of a GBH in flight let alone one like yours and to think you are just out there practicing makes me a little ill. I can't even find a GBH and the one time I did he flew off before I even got into range with my 300mm.
Gordon, I keep asking you to come visit us. The last time I was over at the Guntersville dam with Greg, we saw at least 25 GBHs, and they were cruising up and down the Tennessee river any where from several hundred to several feet from us. Greg has since found an island where the Cormorants nest, and we also have Eagles and Osprey. 8) Come on down any time. We'd absolutely love to have you. :wink:
