Extremely cropped image: This heron has come to our pond daily for more than a month. He fished on our side a few times but spends most of his time on the opposite bank about 100 yards...

selmslie Loc: Fernandina Beach, FL, USA

This heron has come to our pond daily for more than a month. He fished on our side a few times but spends most of his time on the opposite bank about 100 yards away.

That's too far for my 150-600 Tamron. I took the image with the aperture wide open so I could see what the bokeh looks like.

I processed the result in Capture One and cropped the Z7 image from 8256x5504 down to 1563x1954. That is about a 4x crop factor and it represents a field of view of a 2400mm lens. The DOF is also about 1/4th of what it would have been for the full image.

I might have done better by getting closer and cropping less but that was just not practical.

(Download)

NMGal Loc: NE NM

It’s really not bad.

MSW

looks good from where i sit :)

Toment Loc: FL, IL

👍👍👍

UTMike Loc: South Jordan, UT

Beautiful result.

DRam11 Loc: Polson, MT

Looks good to me. Perhaps you could have asked him. to move over a bit so you could get a better shot.😁

tramsey Loc: Texas

I've done enough wild life to know that you take what you get or you'll more than likely miss out completely That's a good shot

joecichjr Loc: Chicago S. Suburbs, Illinois, USA

selmslie wrote:

This heron has come to our pond daily for more tha... (show quote)

What a spectacular result - even with a major crop 💎💎💎💎💎

Craigdca Loc: California

I’d be very happy with this one. Nice job getting the focus on the subject.

selmslie Loc: Fernandina Beach, FL, USA

Thank you all for your comments.

Enough of the subject survived the crop to capture the bird and it's immediate surroundings.

The 4x crop meant that only about 1/16th of the original image area ended up in the crop - about 3MP out of the original 45.7MP. While that's plenty for a thumbnail here or a post elsewhere on the internet, it's not enough to produce a print larger than about 5x7 inches. An enlargeable image needs close to 12MP, about a 2x crop factor for the Z7.

The 4x crop also reduced the full frame DOF from about 7 feet to to 1.75 feet. That's enough to make the bird look sharp (but it required an unreasonable level of sharpening) and still show some bokeh in the background. That was the other reason I took the picture.

AFPhoto Loc: Jamestown, RI, USA

First, that is a an excellent image. And I agree with others that you take what is available at the time. But I am curious, have you tried resizing it with something like Topaz Gigapixel? I have recently started playing with it and so far the results have been great. I need to do more comprehensive testing, but based on preliminary results I am pleased. By the way, for the printing and framing that I do, I usually shoot for 200 pix/inch as opposed to 300 that most recommend.

Manglesphoto Loc: 70 miles south of St.Louis

selmslie wrote:

This heron has come to our pond daily for more tha... (show quote)

Looks good to me especially for a 100yd shot

selmslie Loc: Fernandina Beach, FL, USA

AFPhoto wrote:

First, that is a an excellent image. And I agree with others that you take what is available at the time. But I am curious, have you tried resizing it with something like Topaz Gigapixel? I have recently started playing with it and so far the results have been great. I need to do more comprehensive testing, but based on preliminary results I am pleased. By the way, for the printing and framing that I do, I usually shoot for 200 pix/inch as opposed to 300 that most recommend.

I have never considered resizing an image to a larger resolution. I would rather not spend the time examining the results for the possible side effects.

The 300 ppi value is only meaningful for prints viewed from about ten inches. I can’t even look at my smartphone from ten inches with readers, much less an 8x10 print.

selmslie Loc: Fernandina Beach, FL, USA

Manglesphoto wrote:

Looks good to me especially for a 100yd shot

Thank you.

He has come as close as 30 feet but I figured that if I came out with my zoom lens I would probably scare him off.

I have had better luck in a more natural setting and at the Alligator Farm.

Manglesphoto Loc: 70 miles south of St.Louis

selmslie wrote:

Thank you.

He has come as close as 30 feet but I figured that if I came out with my zoom lens I would probably scare him off.

I have had better luck in a more natural setting and at the Alligator Farm.

I would get out before daylight and set up with some camo netting draped over me and a camera.