[Rob Barron]

Ok, thought I'd stick this one up here for people to consider. I have just returned from Florida and I took this on an airboat trip (vibrated like crazy and noisy as anything!) with a Canon 20D and 100-400mm IS L lens at roughly 200mm, 1/2000 sec at f 8.

Go ahead, say what you think.... I'm a big boy now <g>

Cheers,
Rob

[Dabhand16]

I like this one, Rob, But the Heron is so sharp it is reminiscent of a cut 'n paste. Is the background blur differential focus or PS? It does not look like there is any panning blur, maybe a little too much sharpening to my eye.

Then again, what do I know?

[Rob Barron]

No, this hasn't had much sharpening at all. The sharpness is mainly down to using a phenomenal lens, the 100-400mm image stabilised L series. As it was in Florida, the bright sunshine let me go down to 1/2000th sec so hand-holding and getting it sharp was not a major problem. The background is a bit further away than it looks in the picture, hence the blurring. it was taken at f 8 but subject to BG distance must be a good 60-100 yards front to back. The colour of the bg might be a touch over-saturated, I might pull that back a tad but it doesn't look as bright on paper. Reducing to 72dpi does that sort of thing.

No C&P has taken place, nor any cloning and things. I just lifted the shadow under the wing to reveal a bit of detail as it was a bit dark.

I have another taken in the same sequence with the wings fully out-stretched. You can see that in my gallery.

Cheers,
Rob

[Dabhand16]

Whew! Respect.

[Foxesbrew]

Fantastic picture!!!

[Steve]

I have already commented on this in your gallery...so you'll have to look there if you are interested

[P-E]

Originally Posted by Rob Barron

Go ahead, say what you think

Excellent capture

[skipper954]

This is an incredible image, one that you often have to go deep into the swamp to get. Way to go.

I do, however, have to agree that the heron is TOO sharp, and against the blurred background looks like c and p. I wonder what would happen if you blurred the bird just a tad?

[Rob Barron]

Originally Posted by skipper954

This is an incredible image, one that you often have to go deep into the swamp to get. Way to go.

I do, however, have to agree that the heron is TOO sharp, and against the blurred background looks like c and p. I wonder what would happen if you blurred the bird just a tad?

To be honest Skip, it doesn't look unnatural in print, it is looking sharper on the monitor because of the way these things get compressed and stuff. The thing is, if you have a 2-3 pixel border of anti-aliasing around something, when it is compressed, it is often that anti-aliased area that gets crushed down so things appear even sharper.

It IS sharp on a print, but not so it looks at all cut out. I could blur the entire image a tiny amount but I don't think it is worth it to be honest. I have printed it out at A3+ (made it into a poster) and it looks fine. I only wish all my grabbed movement shots would get me similar results.... I am not showing the 90% that aren't <g>

Thanks for your comments, much appreciated.
Rob

[Foxesbrew]

The Heron is a big bird with a comparatively slow wingbeat, Smaller birds have a much faster beat, which causes blur but leaves the head and body quit sharp ,when you look at a humming bird the wings are almost invisible but the rest of it is easily seen. The picture looks right to me.

[weeman]

Great shot.

I was in Florida this summer, I thought about going on an airboat tour but I was worried that there would be a lot of water spray. Did not want to get my camera wet!

[Markulous]

'Tis a good shot! I guess the 'oversharpness' is down to the high shutter speed totally freezing the action. Whilst I prefer a sense of movement in these type of shots I appreciate that the airboat's vibration prevents slower speeds. Think I'd be tempted to take back the BG, so it's not so bright (lower saturation as well as make it darker). Actually, wonder if you lower the exposure on the RAW conversion and then dodge the heron?

[Rob Barron]

Originally Posted by weeman

Great shot.

I was in Florida this summer, I thought about going on an airboat tour but I was worried that there would be a lot of water spray. Did not want to get my camera wet!

Somewhat surprisingly, you'd have been fine Weeman. When we were shooting across the lake at high speed, I did keep my hands over it as there were a few spray drops but not much. Obviously taking photos at that point is a waste of time anyway as the sheer speed you are going would make it impossible. Once the boat slows up, there is no splashing at all, at least there wasn't on the one I went on. Admittedly some of the boats in different places sit you higher up and ironically that gets you more spray but this one at Boggy Creek, East Lake Toho, you sit down a tad not as low as a normal boat but not that much higher.

Nect time you go, you really should try it, they are great fun and you'll get to see the wildlife close up and do something genuinely different. There are no other boats quite the same as an airboat so it is definitely different :o)

Cheers,
Rob