Posted by Rick Lamb on February 19, 2008 at 6:12 PM
Canon 1D Mark III
Tamron 200-500mm F/5.6-6.3 @ 500mm
1/500 sec @ f/6.3 ISO 3200
This little Northern Red Breasted Sap Sucker was quite the media whore in letting us nature fotogs get up close and personal in its day Saturday at Ridgefield NWR.
This is a slight crop of the full frame image and was shot handheld. I am truly amazed at the quality I am able to get at much higher ISO's with the Canon 1D Mark III!! I brought this into PSCS3 and ran Noise Ninja against it then Focal Blade to sharpen it up. Pretty amazing for ISO 3200!!
Ridgefield NWR is an amazing place to spend a day (or in our case 3 days) shooting from a car. It totally reminded me of shooting in Africa!!! The wildlife is plentiful and easily captured on one's digital media!!
So lemme know what yall think of this one please.
Posted by John Williams on February 19, 2008 at 6:54 PM
A fantastic shot of one of my favorite birds in this area Rick! I'm not at home where I can play with Photoshop, but I'm wondering if opening the reds up a little would make them pop just a bit more. Thanks for posting, it's just beautiful to look at.
Posted by Tom Hyde on February 19, 2008 at 7:18 PM
Are you sure that's 3200, wow. The feather detail is very good. I agree about just a touch on the red, or just a little more contrast.
Posted by Curtis Knight on February 19, 2008 at 7:39 PM
Holy crap Rick! I didn't know you were shooting 3200!!! I'm throwing my gear away and going to truck driving school! OK, so I don't have the guts to commit photographic suicide.
I would also suggest a slight nudge to the contrast, except that I'm looking at a really cheap, uncalibrated monitor, so it's probably just fine. Incredible detail.
Hey, it was great to get together with the Lambs and the Watsons the over the weekend. Man you guys spent a lot of hours in the car over three days!
Posted by David Schoen on February 19, 2008 at 8:11 PM
iso 3200 is not for the timid. This is really impressive. How does focal blade compare to nik Sharpener 2.0?
Posted by Darren White on February 19, 2008 at 9:16 PM
mental note : Look into noise ninja and Focal blade.
you mention you were up close but at the same time you also say you shot this with a 500mm lens @ 500mm... so that tells me you were not that close.....or maybe it's close for bird and wildlife photogs......nonetheless....this is an amazing shot... I saw quite a few of these guys pounding their heads into the trees this weekend while I was up near Wallace Falls
Posted by David Schoen on February 19, 2008 at 10:33 PM
you sure picked the right day to go there. but shooting at iso 3200 at 500mm f 6.3 and 500th sec tells me it was rather dark by the tree. I was shooting in full sun on Saturday at f6.7 at 500th sec, iso 250 - 400 on a tripod with a D-300 and 500 with 1.7 telextender and this looks as good as anything I got without NN and FB. I do see a little motion blur in your image but for handheld in those lighting conditions, this is really good.
Awesome shot, Rick. What a beauty. Thanks for the info on Ridgefield NWR. Sounds like a fantastic place.
Posted by Adrian Klein on February 20, 2008 at 9:46 AM
The ISO just keeps getting better at the high numbers, that is quite remarkable for 3200. Great for 500mm handheld but as others have pointed out there does seem to be an ever so slight blur from motion. Nice image nontheless!
Posted by Mark Hudon on February 20, 2008 at 11:55 AM
"Red Headed Media Whore" eh? That got me going. Nice shot, dead sharp. I'm certainly not a birder but this is a real good shot, Rick.
Posted by Sean Hyde on February 20, 2008 at 2:23 PM
Sweet Rick! Technology improvements continue to assist us, but your knowledge/skill/acumen/abilities as a photographer is what really makes this image IMO. Put the same tools in my hand, and I'd likely have just captured moss and bark
Posted by Nancy Lamb on February 20, 2008 at 6:12 PM
Mark,
The reason behind the name: This little buddy was surrounded by photographers most of the weekend. We couldn't get enough!
Getting the settings right was a major challenge. What I love about this shot, and most that Rick shot that day, were the boket was spot on! (Thanks to Jim Leigh, I learned that word and spelling).
It was truly a wonderful weekend and splendid to hook up with good friends like the Leigh's, the Knights, and as always the Watsons! And Curtis' friend whose name I forget too.
Nancy
Rick, Very nice. Glad we all found each other out there. For comparison, here is my shot.with Nikon D200, 18-200 VR at 200, ISO 400, F6.3, at 1/40sec. on Tripod. And with about a 30% crop, was afraid to crop more.
Jerry R
Posted by Rick Lamb on February 22, 2008 at 2:12 AM
Thanks folks for all the kind words!!! Ridgefield NWR is a VERY special place!!!
David Focal Blade is VERY adjustable. Which is both a plus and a minus because I can EASILY spend far toooooo much time tweaking away on an image. Nik Sharpener is far less adjustable so you're kinda stuck with what it thinks is best which most times is REALLY GOOD. I have several tools for sharpening including using the sharpening tool in Lightroom and Smart Sharpen in PSCS3. Each have a respected place in my toolbox. Horses for courses....
This "media whore" spent the whole weekend in a stand of trees right next to one of only two outhouses in the Ridgefield NWR which meant MANY fotogs spotted him and made the most of his "convenient" location.
Discussion
13 repliesTamron 200-500mm F/5.6-6.3 @ 500mm
1/500 sec @ f/6.3 ISO 3200
This little Northern Red Breasted Sap Sucker was quite the media whore in letting us nature fotogs get up close and personal in its day Saturday at Ridgefield NWR.
This is a slight crop of the full frame image and was shot handheld. I am truly amazed at the quality I am able to get at much higher ISO's with the Canon 1D Mark III!! I brought this into PSCS3 and ran Noise Ninja against it then Focal Blade to sharpen it up. Pretty amazing for ISO 3200!!
Ridgefield NWR is an amazing place to spend a day (or in our case 3 days) shooting from a car. It totally reminded me of shooting in Africa!!! The wildlife is plentiful and easily captured on one's digital media!!
So lemme know what yall think of this one please.
I would also suggest a slight nudge to the contrast, except that I'm looking at a really cheap, uncalibrated monitor, so it's probably just fine. Incredible detail.
Hey, it was great to get together with the Lambs and the Watsons the over the weekend. Man you guys spent a lot of hours in the car over three days!
you mention you were up close but at the same time you also say you shot this with a 500mm lens @ 500mm... so that tells me you were not that close.....or maybe it's close for bird and wildlife photogs......nonetheless....this is an amazing shot... I saw quite a few of these guys pounding their heads into the trees this weekend while I was up near Wallace Falls
The reason behind the name: This little buddy was surrounded by photographers most of the weekend. We couldn't get enough!
Getting the settings right was a major challenge. What I love about this shot, and most that Rick shot that day, were the boket was spot on! (Thanks to Jim Leigh, I learned that word and spelling).
It was truly a wonderful weekend and splendid to hook up with good friends like the Leigh's, the Knights, and as always the Watsons! And Curtis' friend whose name I forget too.
Nancy
Jerry R
David Focal Blade is VERY adjustable. Which is both a plus and a minus because I can EASILY spend far toooooo much time tweaking away on an image. Nik Sharpener is far less adjustable so you're kinda stuck with what it thinks is best which most times is REALLY GOOD. I have several tools for sharpening including using the sharpening tool in Lightroom and Smart Sharpen in PSCS3. Each have a respected place in my toolbox. Horses for courses....
This "media whore" spent the whole weekend in a stand of trees right next to one of only two outhouses in the Ridgefield NWR which meant MANY fotogs spotted him and made the most of his "convenient" location.
Nice shot Jerry!!!