Not-So-Black on White

Gallery: AvianPosted January 21, 2013205 views10 comments

Not-So-Black on White

I've always found ravens (and crows for that matter) interesting. Most folks tend to think of them simply as "big black birds" - but if you are lucky enough to get close to them you quickly realize that while they ARE very dark, their plumage contains many subtle hues - from blue and violet through to dark greens.

This image is sort of a "lucky grab" shot I captured in late December when out testing some new bits of equipment from Nikon. It was on the chilly side when I shot it (about -20C) which I think helped convince the raven it was more important to let me approach closely rather than waste extra energy by flying off (but shortly after I shot this image another raven flew overhead and this one took off to join it).

Subject: Common Raven on snow
Location: East Kootenays, BC, Canada
Camera: Nikon D600
Lens: Nikkor 70-200mm f4 VR zoom @ 175mm - hand-held from floating zodiac. VR on and in "Normal" mode.
Exposure: 1/200s @ f6.3 ISO 200. no compensation from matrix-metered exposure setting.
Crop: Very minor - this is about 95% of full-framed image

Additional details about the image (including processing details) available here:

http://www.naturalart.ca/galleries/latest/detail_2.html.

The discussion under the link above talks a little about the new gear used to capture this image, and also has a link to a higher res version of the image (2500 pixels wide) if anyone cares to examine the shot more "closely".

Comments and critiques welcomed - probably best to view the larger version prior to doing so!

Cheers...

Brad

Comments

10 comments

Comment posted by Christine Adams on January 21, 2013 at 4:45 PM

Beautiful! Love the face, especially the eye.

Registered on January 24, 2006, 119 Posts, 1871 Comments

Comment posted by Skip Layman on January 21, 2013 at 5:00 PM

Great job with a really tough exposure challenge. Love the feather detail.

Registered on November 1, 2003, 558 Posts, 1704 Comments

Comment posted by Keith Bauer on January 21, 2013 at 6:11 PM

Ahh... You handled the exposure (or maybe I should say, the camera) to perfection. The detail in the Raven's plumage is great. The light angle helped as well to discern the layers. With all that, there is still detail in the snow. Ravens and crows seems to get snubbed by Avian photographers on a regular basis. Yeah, not the most colorful species, but when done well, certainly worth the effort.

Registered on November 20, 2003, 458 Posts, 4836 Comments

Comment posted by David Sewell on January 21, 2013 at 6:25 PM

You have captured the plumage beautifully, and with a snowy background too! Great work.

David

Registered on September 10, 2008, 63 Posts, 801 Comments

Comment posted by John Neukirch on January 21, 2013 at 7:12 PM

Really a nice shot, Edgar Allen Poe would be proud!

Registered on July 9, 2012, 207 Posts, 1476 Comments

Comment posted by Michael Cothran on January 21, 2013 at 8:12 PM

The detail in the raven is absolutely incredible. You couldn't have processed it any better. And then couple that with the fact that the snow also looks good, and not blown out...

Registered on December 5, 2012, 31 Posts, 730 Comments

Comment posted by Kurt Bowman on January 21, 2013 at 9:48 PM

I happen to be one of the people that loves Ravens Brad. These birds were revered by many of the native Americans. They are also pretty darn smart from what I have witnessed. Nice job on the exposure. Not as easy as you made it look with all the surrounding snow.