Golden Turkey Vulture in Flight

Posted by Sandy Mossberg on Fri Apr 16, 2004 7:30 am

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Turkey Vulture (Cathartes aura)
Anhinga Trail, Everglades National Park, FL, on 30 Mar 2004

Rather than post a third Swallow-tailed Kite, I chose to display an image of a common bird in the same sky as the STKs. I spotted this Turkey Vulture gliding near the kites over the parking lot at Anhinga Trail. Top-lighting was so impressive that I quickly took my eyes off the kites and grabbed this shot. It is probably the only TV image I’ve produced that is halfway decent.

If you’d like to see other interesting shots of the swallow-tails, clicking here will take you to the specific entry in my website journal.

Thanks for looking. Critiques, comments, and reposts are welcome.

Canon 1D, 400DO IS
F5.6, 1/1000, ISO 400, 550EX/BB @zero
Manual mode, Incident metering @zero
Image/Adjustments, Toolbox, USM, Crop zero
C1 SE RAW Converter

Sandy Mossberg
Boynton Beach, Florida, USA
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by fredcor on Fri Apr 16, 2004 7:57 am

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Neat shot Sandy. I find these difficult to shoot, they waver about so much it's hard to keep pace. Great that you got the eye and the nostril well defined.

Frederick Lat Correa

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by Jim Neely on Fri Apr 16, 2004 8:10 am

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You sure know how to make a silk purse out of a sow's ear, Sandy.

The top lighting is wonderful and the image beautiful.

jn

[b]Jim Neely - Dripping Springs TX[/b]
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Last edited by Jim Neely on Fri Apr 16, 2004 12:48 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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by Juan E. Bahamon on Fri Apr 16, 2004 9:00 am

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Sandy:

Impressive detail on the wings, the body however is a little soft in my monitor.

Juan E. Bahamon
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by Carol Clarke on Fri Apr 16, 2004 9:14 am

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Wonderful shot Sandy! the top lighting certainly makes this one extra special!

No nits from me and I wouldn't even consider moving any pixels from bottom or top.

Carol Clarke
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by Neil Solomon on Fri Apr 16, 2004 9:59 am

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Sandy,

You've commented before how you sometimes prefer to keep the dark areas dark in images like this rather than force out more detail. Is this the case here? I can't tell if there is a lot more detail in the dark areas or not. BTW, I like the top lighting with the head lit as well.

Neil Solomon
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by Sandy Mossberg on Fri Apr 16, 2004 10:18 am

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Neil Solomon wrote:Sandy, You've commented before how you sometimes prefer to keep the dark areas dark in images like this rather than force out more detail. Is this the case here? I can't tell if there is a lot more detail in the dark areas or not. BTW, I like the top lighting with the head lit as well.

Neil, in many images I do prefer to retain the dark areas as shot rather than bringing out more detail, and indeed this is one example. Subject this image to the Amount slider of the Shadow/Highlight dialog, and you will find a fair amount of extra detail in the black areas. The price to pay for this detail is loss of contrast and increased noise in the dark areas. For my taste it's not worth it, particularly because on my monitor I see some detail in the blacks. It may all just be a matter of personal preference.

Sandy Mossberg
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by Greg Downing on Fri Apr 16, 2004 10:27 am

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Beautiful as usual Sandy! I'll check the rest out when I am connected faster than 26,4!

Greg Downing
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by Alan Melle on Fri Apr 16, 2004 2:53 pm

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Love the light coming through his feathers. Nice and sharp too.

Alan Melle
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by christoforos on Fri Apr 16, 2004 3:07 pm

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Beautiful capture Sandy!

Christoforos

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by Karen S on Fri Apr 16, 2004 3:55 pm

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Wonderful shot Sandy...I really like the back lighting and you did well with the composition here. Thanks for sharing.

[b]Karen B. Schindeldecker[/b]
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by Bruce DiVaccaro on Fri Apr 16, 2004 6:25 pm

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Sandy,

This is a very nice shot. I like the vertical wing span. The light on the face is excellent.

Bruce DiVaccaro
Sheffield Village, Ohio
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by Peter Wallack on Fri Apr 16, 2004 6:40 pm

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Sometimes you can actually see a bird better in an image than close up with them moving because you only have an instant to study the bird. In this case, I just got my best view of how the wings are beautifully put together. Thanks!!

Birds of Sanibel
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by Cindy Marple on Fri Apr 16, 2004 8:06 pm

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Very sweet! as usual.

Cindy Marple
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by AlexC on Fri Apr 16, 2004 8:52 pm

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What happened to the third Kite ??
You owe me one more Kite!!!
Lovely turkey indeed!!!!

[b]Alex Calzadilla[/b]
[b]Miami, Florida[/b]
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"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 Fri Apr 16, 2004 10:29 pm