Crested Caracara - Juvenile

Posted by AlexC on Wed Apr 07, 2004 10:16 pm

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Crested Caracara (Caracara cheriway)

First of all, thanks go to Jim Neiger and Jim Urback for the wonderful tour of the birds in their area, and also for sharing them with Sandy and I as well, It was fun to say the least and pretty exciting at times!!!

This is a juvenile that was willing to pose for us, This time the parent refused to have his picture taken!! I have never seen Caracaras this approachable in the wild, It was a hoot!!
D1x, Raw, Lens=400mm afs-f/2.8 + 2X, FL=800mm, reflective metering confirmed via histogram, 1/500sec SS-f/6.3, ISO-200 EV=0 on camera, flash D-TTL SB-800 at 0EV, image cropped for portrait, levels , curves and color corrected, a little of USM as well, Monopod supported rig and the light was bad!!
Any comments and or reposts are always welcome!!

[b]Alex Calzadilla[/b]
[b]Miami, Florida[/b]
[b]NSN-0024[/b]
"At the feast of ego everyone leaves hungry." - Bentley's House of Coffee and Tea, Tucson, AZ

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by Alan Murphy on Wed Apr 07, 2004 10:27 pm

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Alex, I know this guy, Jim has him loving the camera. At this close range, you could have at least straightened out his neck feathers

Great shot Alex.

Alan Murphy
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www.alanmurphyphotography.com

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by george forrest on Wed Apr 07, 2004 10:36 pm

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I'm always amazed when I see a 2x was used and yet see the image this sharp. It defies the common notion that a 2x will loose at least some minor amount of sharpness. As usual, great image Alex.
(Any tips on using a 2x, yet maintaining full sharpness?)

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by RichardMittleman/Gon2Foto on Thu Apr 08, 2004 12:30 am

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by Steve Metildi on Thu Apr 08, 2004 2:00 am

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Fantastic shot Alex. I have also have a 2X I use with my D1X and I never can get it this razor sharp (with a 600 anyway).

Steve Metildi

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by Carol Clarke on Thu Apr 08, 2004 4:09 am

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Wonderful shot Alex!

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by AlexC on Thu Apr 08, 2004 5:43 am

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George and Steve asked similar questions:

I'm always amazed when I see a 2x was used and yet see the image this sharp. It defies the common notion that a 2x will loose at least some minor amount of sharpness.

Every time I use the 2X , I always try to shoot 1/focal length, this is sometimes not possible, like in this case I had to use 1/500sec to be able to x-sync with the flash, the bird was in low light and back-lit, flash was a must, I went for one stop over max focal aperture to hedge my bet, prayed a lot and used AF-S to minimize lens focus hunting, supported the 400mm-f/2.8 + 2X on a Monopod, and tried to anticipate the wing gusts and shot in the split second when the bird was looking and me and the wind slowed down, a tripod would have been heaven sent , but there was no time to loose with a wandering bird!!, I would have rather shot without it, but then again I would have missed portrait shots!!
Hope this helps!!

[b]Alex Calzadilla[/b]
[b]Miami, Florida[/b]
[b]NSN-0024[/b]
"At the feast of ego everyone leaves hungry." - Bentley's House of Coffee and Tea, Tucson, AZ

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by Peter Wallack on Thu Apr 08, 2004 6:18 am

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My best look at this species. Congrats.

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by Harvey Edelman on Thu Apr 08, 2004 6:53 am

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The light was bad? I think the muted colors are outstanding

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by AForns on Thu Apr 08, 2004 7:48 am

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The outstanding technique paid off in producing a sharp image. Great as usual Thanks for posting the beautiful bird hope to see one sometime. Sweet

Alfred Forns
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In theory there is no difference between theory and practice. In practice there is.
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by fredcor on Thu Apr 08, 2004 8:30 am

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Lovely feather detail. The forward position of the head makes a very interesting pose.

Frederick Lat Correa

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by Alan Melle on Thu Apr 08, 2004 8:59 am

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Very nice! The light doesn't look all that bad to me. That SB-800 seems to be working very well for you as this doesn't look flashed at all. Well done!

Alan Melle
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by Simon A on Thu Apr 08, 2004 9:14 am

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Alex,

Great image, -- love the complimentary BG, and detail/color in the subject.

Regards, Simon

Simon Allenby
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by eagle43 on Thu Apr 08, 2004 9:19 am

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Not bad my friend, could be a bit sharper, but love the BG.

I know there will be Killers to come. Congrats on getting images of a bird high on your list and mind as well.

More!!!! More!!!

Roy

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by Sandy Mossberg on Thu Apr 08, 2004 10:37 am

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A beauty, Alex. Indeed we had a fine time with our gracious hosts, Jim Neiger and Jim Urbach.

Sandy Mossberg
Boynton Beach, Florida, USA
[url=http://www.sandymossberg.com][b]SandyMossberg.com[/b][/url]
NSN 0015

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by Bob Ettinger on Thu Apr 08, 2004 10:39 am

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Alex,

Very cool shot. Well done.

Bob Ettinger

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by Bill Whala on Thu Apr 08, 2004 11:00 am

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Wonderful portrait!! The muted colors work well here.

Bill Whala

"Aves of similar plumage tend to converge with one another"

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by Jim Urbach on Thu Apr 08, 2004 5:17 pm

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Alex,

Great capture. Sorry these guys waited so long to appear and also sorry we did not pay the adult enough to stay around.

Jim

Enjoy viewing

Jim Urbach

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by Jill on Thu Apr 08, 2004 9:19 pm

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Alex, My first thought is what Alan said, "you could have at least straightened out his neck feathers." But youngsters have a mind of their own! I love this image for its colors, pose, expression, light and BG !!!!!