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Little Crake (F) Feeding

Discussion

5 replies
Posted by Ray on October 18, 2008 at 7:54 PM
Little Crake (F) Feeding
Taken from a camouflaged car hide setup on a cut/pool just off a river, on the island of Lesvos.

Returning next year to hopefully get this species on digital.

Nikon F5, Lens: 600mm f/4, 1/125 sec @ f11, Sensia 100 @ +1/3 ASA, tripod mounted, electrical cable release used. Scanned on CoolScan 5000 processed in CS2.
Posted by jack chapman on October 19, 2008 at 5:00 AM
very nice the colours are lovely, would have liked the legs to be sharp not sure how you'd have done that though since this is F11
Posted by Major Gilbert on October 19, 2008 at 5:27 AM
Little Crake is a great looking bird and this image shows it off well. When you really study this bird it has a great variety of colours but unfortunately for me the eye does not show its self off well, the white blobs in the BG also detract. As mentioned the OOF leg also draws the eye. I know how difficult Lesvos can be at certain times of the day re the light and getting a catchlight in the eye.

Major.
Posted by David Kjaer on October 19, 2008 at 6:36 AM
Hi Ray

Nice capture of a bird often difficult to see let alone photograph - ditto the small nits mentioned by Major!

David :toast:
Posted by John Robinson on October 19, 2008 at 5:38 PM
Missed this one earlier.
I agree with the above comments and I think more space on the right(less left ) would help the overall balance. Tiny bit over saturated but I understand the Lesvos light.
I worry about the reflection chopped in half but that's a personal thing.
JR
Posted by Brett Lewis on October 20, 2008 at 9:12 AM
Without that catchlight and the lack of sharpness in parts, over all I think this image is rather flat. Yes, it is 'what it says on the tin' and a good record shot, but struggles to be anything more taking into account all the nits mentioned. I too have many shots like this of many species and I use them for ID and to submit records to my local Biodiversity records centre. I guess the different aspects of processing and scanning have taken away some of the luminosity from the original, not to mention the lighting issues you tried to deal with in the field..?

Brett.