Peregrine Mama

Gallery: AvianPosted June 14, 2014192 views11 comments

May 18, 2014 This Peregrine Falcon female was busy all morning feeding her four fledges. Her level of "busy" shows on her forehead, beak, chest and talons.

Nikon D4 Nikkor 600mm 1.4TC 850mm RAW ISO800 1/1250 f/8 White Balance Auto Taken with a Wimberley gimbal on a tripod. Processed in Lightroom, PSCC, NIK and TK. Cropped about 40%

Comments appreciated.

Comments

11 comments

Comment posted by Jim Zablotny on June 14, 2014 at 5:04 PM

No one messes with Mama! Well done Patrick. I like the select focus and comp with ideal, soft lighting........................Jim

Registered on January 17, 2004, 705 Posts, 3594 Comments

Comment posted by David Haynes on June 14, 2014 at 9:23 PM

Patrick,
Mamas been busy for sure and it shows. Absolutely Love the perch. Would prefer to see a little bit more room on the right side as she looks a little bit tight over there but admittedly a personal preference. Also a personal preference is the white balance which looks a little bit warm as the whites are almost yellow and the eyes, feet and beak seem much too yellow. You have great feather detail on both of the wing fronts and it looks like that's where your focus point is. Head is just a little soft.
Love the soft even light we get on these falcons this time of year with the cloudy conditions every morning. I must say again that the perch is really, really nice. Sure looks like you are having fun shooting these birds.

Registered on February 20, 2010, 110 Posts, 1511 Comments

Comment posted by Keith Bauer on June 14, 2014 at 11:15 PM

Very cool pose. The intense nature of these birds seems to really show through on this image. As David said, great perch, although I'm not wild about the OOF LRC. The overall color balance does feel a bit off with warm tones and a greenish cast to the water (I'm assuming water) background. Here's a crack with some neutralization of the tones and couple little luminance shifts. See what you think.

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

Comment posted by David Haynes on June 15, 2014 at 1:23 AM

Patrick,
Keith's rendition seems to have a much more balanced and natural white balance point to it. The water actually looks blue with that southern California overcast look to it. The perch does not look yellowish green anymore either. Much better! I really need to take some classes with Keith. Could really learn a lot. :)

Registered on February 20, 2010, 110 Posts, 1511 Comments

Comment posted by Todd Bauer on June 15, 2014 at 1:15 PM

Of course it's a great shot. A couple of these folks are master craftsmen, as you've said... Keith's tweak made it Nat Geo cover material.

Registered on May 28, 2014, 50 Posts, 176 Comments

Comment posted by Richard Ditch on June 15, 2014 at 8:30 PM

Terrific pose; nice detail. A bit more space on the right would be nice to have.

Registered on November 1, 2003, 1031 Posts, 12705 Comments

Comment posted by Jim DeWitt on June 16, 2014 at 1:34 AM

Excellent, Patrick. I like yours as posted.

Registered on August 28, 2006, 1240 Posts, 8506 Comments

Comment posted by Bill Kellermeyer on June 17, 2014 at 3:05 PM

Awesome The intensity detail and pose are great. Well done.

Registered on March 19, 2013, 52 Posts, 161 Comments

Comment posted by Ray Whitt on June 21, 2014 at 12:46 PM

All of your Peregrine shots have been just outstanding Patrick. I love the pose of this one.

Ray

Registered on May 27, 2011, 92 Posts, 2619 Comments

Comment posted by Ken Watkins on July 11, 2014 at 8:59 AM

Patrick,
What a truly wonderful pose, perfectly captured

Registered on December 15, 2010, 1537 Posts, 4877 Comments

Comment posted by Martin Dunn on July 11, 2014 at 9:41 AM

Lovely shot Patrick. The stare really grips you.
Keith's re-post has improved the colour balance.

even the OOF smudge at bottom right is perfectly placed for your signature.

Registered on February 20, 2013, 198 Posts, 1011 Comments