Black crowned NH

Beautiful light and an excellent image, Ron.

Terrific light and detail on this flight shot Ron. This reminds me I need to get back out to the nesting BCNH site to see if the eggs have hatched

Ron, I agree with you about the light, wing position, setting, and oil spill... I am dreading what the impacts are going to be in the long run... nice sharpness you got here.

Nice lighting, good detail, IMHO if there was a bit more seperation between the birds head and left wing the photo might be improved, but I know you have to take what you can get. Thanks for sharing. Agree about the oil.

Very nice Ron!! These are a devil to get standing still let alone flying! Sharpness and exposure very good. I might take the reed on the left out, but otherwise the BG is great. Congrats!

Really nice flight shot, and excellent warm light

Hi Ron,
Good job of getting one of these in flight anf good light. I love those big red eyes. I do have one issue and maybe you could elaborate. In the large image I see considerable noise for a 7D and ISO-320. I seem to see noise in more than a few of the LARGE images posted here. I'm just curious as I shoot with an old old D200 and you won't see any noise in my LARGE images. I'm sure many other people like myself use noise removal programs for images that have noise.
Thanks for posting,
Ronnie G.

Terrific! The light is wonderful here. Excellent sharpness; nice flight position.

Ron:
Wonderful light and beautiful BG colors. I see the noise mentioned by Ronnie and I don't recall seeing obvious noise in your earlier posts with the 7D. In fact, I seem to recall that you were pleased about the lack of noise. What does the histogram look like on the original? Is it shifted to the left? I like the nice detail throughout the bird and the vivid red eye, of course.
Glad you got some time for photography.

That's some beautiful lighting and nice detail Ron. I agree that the bg is a bit noisy so some nr would help there.

Thanks for all the comments. As for the "noise" in the larger image. The large image is presented as shot with only adjustments being sharpening of the bird only and slight contrast and levels adjustments. I made no changes to exposure and I applied no NR. Given the relatively dark/rich BG colors, I believe the amount of noise given the amount of crop, is not bad at all. I certainly could have used NR to remove the noise that is present, and I have experimented extensively with NR on my images. However, personally, I believe removing all the noise from the BG of images makes them look artificial. In many cases it makes the subject look pasted onto the BG. So, I just do not use NR. That way I am sure the subject fits into the BG as it should, as it did when the image was taken. Maybe a throwback to when I shot film and the grain that was always present in those images. Just my thinking on the subject of noise in digital images.

Hi Ron,
You stated: "That way I am sure the subject fits into the BG as it should, as it did when the image was taken".
The counter argument about noise in the background would be what if the out of camera image had no noise at all. Then would the bird not look natural in regards to the noise free background. I guess in my pea-sized brain I see no difference in removing the noise versus an out of camera image with no noise.
In summary what one does to his/her images is a personnal decision. Critiques are to discuss both sides of an issue. We can agree to dissagree.
Ronnie

The way I look at it is, if the out of camera image has no noise, which is very rare to begin with, then the subject, a bird in this case, will not have any noise contained within it. So, the bird looks right against the very clean BG. If there was enough noise in the BG to warrant removal of the noise from the BG, then the bird contains noise too, so the bird looks a bit funny against the NR cleaned BG. Unless of course you remove the noise from the bird and in my experience that results in a loss of detail from the bird. I guess you could say, the bird to BG noise ratio needs to be close to the same in order for the bird to look right against the BG. To my eyes anyway. And, of course, you can do whatever you want to your images. When I critique, I call them as I see them. I expect the same from those who critique my images. I am not looking for at a boys. I want critical assessments of my images. The amount of noise in an image says nothing about the photographer's skills. With todays technology, noise can be removed very successfully and very easily. Getting good sharp, dynamic flight shots. That on the other hand still takes a lot of practice and skill.

Hi Ron,
You stated, "The amount of noise in an image says nothing about the photographer's skills".
A don't necessarily agree with that. An underexposed image will have more noise than a properly exposed image. So the photographers skill does come into play with regards to noise.
Ronnie

True, but for the most part, only if the person tries to correct the poor exposure in post processing and/or crops in too much. The poor exposure shows the persons skill level not the noise IMO. Leave the image as shot and the noise won't be too bad in most instances.

Beautifully done Ron. The light and pose are excellent.

Pretty Ron. I still don't have a good one of these flying. I'd take this one

Ron,
beautiful flight pose, light and background colors. Great detail too.

Just an excellent flight photo. The warm light is outstanding, but sort of expect that in your photos Ron.
The only little niggling issue I can find is that the beak merges slightly with the dark part of the underwing (oh, I see someone else noted that too). I noticed the slight noise in the background as well, not objectionable to me. Great discussion on the merits of noise reduction/or not, I can see both sides of the argument having valid points. I have never used NR, purchased a D700 instead and am glad someone like you Ron shuns it - I don't feel like I'm missing out on something now at least. I noticed a lot of folks use the tool. (That icon means I'm "thinking", not I'm scoffing)

Beautiful light and colors here, Ron. Excellent shot!

Excellent job, Ron. Great action shot with beautiful light!
Mauro

Nice sharp capture, Ron. I'm not bothered by the noise. However, just a little exposure adjustment near that bill could make it more visible. However, I agree, of course, exposure changes in processing, NR, etc. are really a matter of personal preference and personal taste. I always enjoy seeing your images regardless, Ron.

Love the light and the background colors. Great flight shot!

Simply Awesome!!! Excellent image Ron!

Ken Archer