Heron at Lunch

First of a couple of photos I took at Bushy Park during the weekend just gone, would very much appreciate any thoughts or comments!

Taken with a D2X, 300mm F4.5 MF Nikon - ISO400/f8.5/1/640 sec.

Thanks!

Fabulous bird, but a bit cramped by the cropping ( assuming its a crop ? ) He appears to be staring at the side of the photo rather than into space. If you can, and i know its not always possible with wildlife as they dont know our rules, and they sometimes give you no more than a few seconds, but give the bird some space to look into, in the direction he's looking, if you have the luxury of cropping the photo. Needs a little sharpening too, as the focus is just a tad off

Colours are fab

Hi Pete,

Thanks for the advice! MF focussing is very much a learning experience and I have a way to go yet!

You are quite right about the cropping, I did this just a bit to quickly (full size no crops below)!



Thanks again for the advice!

Neil

Brilliant Neil ! Thats exactly what i was talking about. When there's a choice, the space where the bird is looking really helps make the shot, though of course this only works when the bird is looking left or right. I dont always manage it myself, but when possible, its the way to go. I had a shock when i checked the original, as its full size.. 4000+ pixels Anyway, if you dont mind, and hope its some help to you, I did some selective sharpening on the bird, and added a bit of Gamma ( just a tad ) from the Levels option, just to tweak it a bit more. Plus a little burning on the very over white feathers. Again only a little. I'm quite impressed with the IQ you got at full 4000+ pix size. Impressive ! Anyways Neil, see if you think i've managed to improve the overall appearance

Neil, i posted both so as to make the comparison easier

Pete,

Many thanks for your efforts, a definite improvement! If you have any time in the future I'd be very grateful if you could tell me what package(s) you used and some basic instruction/hints on how you achieved the results?

In the meantime, I'm considering my options regarding lenses; the MF 300 F4.5 does, as you say, deliver great IQ however, the MF is tricky! I'm thinking of looking at the 300 F4 AF because of quality and construction - I had considered the Sigmas but wondered if the value outweighed the quality?

Thanks again!

Neil

You're welcome Neil. I use Adobe CS5 extended and Adobe Camera Raw 6 as i always shoot RAW. Like any top software, its a bit of a minefield to start with, but eventually you get to grips with the main uses. But the indepth sub levels of CS5 is way beyond me. I doubt if i use more than about 10% of its complicated engine, but its enough for me.

The tweaks i used were very minor, as you have to be subtle, or you destroy things very quickly. If you havent got CS5 you would struggle to know what i'm talking about

What are you currently using for processing ?

AS for lenses, MF is fine for slow moving creatures, and landscapes / architecture. It gets harder with flighty / twitchy creatures and small birds. The AF 300 / F4 will be great in this respect. The IQ of that lens is well thought of, and can probably take a 1.4 x Teleconverter without much trouble, which gets you 420mm @ f5.6

To better the IQ of the Nikon 300/f4 in a sigma, you would probably need to go for the 120-300 f2.8 but these are big ££££££££. Its all relevant though - the sigma 120-300 has had great reviews using a 2x TC which gives 600mm @ f5.6, but you pay more

Pete,

I have CS5, which I have for web design, but haven't used it for processing as yet!

Neil

Well get cracking then ! Its a great piece of software

Will do! Thanks again for your advice!

Neil