Cindy Smith
December 2024 - "Don't Even Think About It"
Original
About the Image(s)
"Don't Even Think About It"
Sony a7iii, 1/640, f/9, iso 1250 @ 452mm with 200-600 lens, handheld
Crop, decrease highlights, dehaze, sl sharpening
On our trip to Alaska to view bears this August, we were unable to fly into bear country due to weather. Stayed in Homer, AK and saw lots of cool things. This bald eagle was looking for a meal when it caught this fish, circled before landing to eat it. In this shot, the fish is almost gone, but the eagle looked up to let us know this was his fish.
6 comments posted
I love the story of this image. While there is still a strong focus on the eyes I think the shot was still a reach too far to handle the crop. Unfortunately I don't know what you could do to enhance the sharpness. This is one of those cases where story trumps technical quality. I hope that makes sense. Posted: 12/09/2024 20:13:26
A nice capture but a tad unsharp because of the large crop. If you have the Topaz suite of tools you could try running it through Megapixel. Posted: 12/11/2024 14:33:03
The look is definitely what makes this image. Posted: 12/11/2024 17:03:13
Hi Cindy,
I agree with Jaswant. When an agressive cropping is applied to an image, there are a lot less pixels to work with. The definition, sharpness and noise increase.
Increasing your zoom to 600 mm, and possibly adding a 1.6X or 2X converter might have helped. (A decrease in your ISO, and possibly a wider aperture, might have helped - depending on your equipment.)
Furthermore, this eagle was very far away. Depending on the degree of humidity, evaporation of the water, heat, rain, etc.... the details, even with a very tight capture will affect the sharpness of the image.
I tried to apply further denoising and sharpening using ON1, but then the corrections are becoming more obvious (see image)
Wildlife photography from far away poses its own challenges! Posted: 12/11/2024 17:24:43
I agree with Jaswant. When an agressive cropping is applied to an image, there are a lot less pixels to work with. The definition, sharpness and noise increase.
Increasing your zoom to 600 mm, and possibly adding a 1.6X or 2X converter might have helped. (A decrease in your ISO, and possibly a wider aperture, might have helped - depending on your equipment.)
Furthermore, this eagle was very far away. Depending on the degree of humidity, evaporation of the water, heat, rain, etc.... the details, even with a very tight capture will affect the sharpness of the image.
I tried to apply further denoising and sharpening using ON1, but then the corrections are becoming more obvious (see image)
Wildlife photography from far away poses its own challenges! Posted: 12/11/2024 17:24:43
You have done a good job considering how small the eagle is in the frame. It is a good recording of the eagle but lacks sharpness to take it to competition level. Posted: 12/11/2024 18:36:36
What an expressive subject. I do think that the lack of sharpness makes it hard to focus on the subject. From an artistic standpoint I think the lack of focus could help tell a story as it communicates to me a sense of dampness, wetness or cold. But as Mervyn said I think that if the photo was sharper then it would be a very strong competition piece. I think your crop is very good and uses the space well. Posted: 12/16/2024 19:10:29