I was feeling left out with no one wanting me to rate their pics but finally I’m deemed worthy of spamming today. It must me a successful marketing so I thought I’d give it a go. Maybe even Steve can build it into his strategy? So here’s the deal - post your naked photos - no cropping, tweaking, fiddling. Just straight out of the camera. This is a martial eagle (very exciting bird, always gets me hot under the collar) D500 400mm f2.8, 1.4 TC iii, iso 200, 1/2500s, f5, no compensation using matrix. Pity I can’t set it to some Rod Stewart (do you think I’m sexy) music. This is a big female and if you look at the breast where it meets her right leg you can see the dried blood from the previous evening’s meal.

I was trying to get some BIF shots when this snowy egret got an itch. Didn't even think about settings, or anything else, just get him in the frame, lol. Taken at Adams Park in Fergus Falls, MN.
Seemed to work, haha. D500, 400 f2.8 DII & TC 14EII, 1/4000 at f13, ISO 1800 (auto).

Snowy?

Great shot…but wrong species.

red shouldered hawk. D850 500pf. Sooc.

Thanks for posting Enschnetz and FB101. I was getting worried that we'd stopped even trying to get it right in camera and we’re relying too much on an “oh I’ll fix it in PP” attitude. I’ll always tweak bits like contrast but really my aim if for the minimum amount of time at my desk and the maximum outside. Great Photos. As for settings I’m usually on auto ISO and normally forget to check when I grab something but rely on continuous update of the settings while nothing is going on. Not best practice but I usually survive.

Squawk said:

Thanks for posting Enschnetz and FB101. I was getting worried that we'd stopped even trying to get it right in camera and we’re relying too much on an “oh I’ll fix it in PP” attitude. I’ll always tweak bits like contrast but really my aim if for the minimum amount of time at my desk and the maximum outside. Great Photos. As for settings I’m usually on auto ISO and normally forget to check when I grab something but rely on continuous update of the settings while nothing is going on. Not best practice but I usually survive.

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Yep…right in camera is always good but thank goodness for PP…that way you can bring up shadows or tone down highlights since getting them both right is tricky.

So many images can be improved with good processing and I cannot think of a reason not to do it. Yes, sometimes the light and the subject are just perfect and nothing much is needed, but most often, let's say 99% of the time, our work can be improved and made more beautiful with processing, just as people in the "dark ages" did with film. I don't know why there is this compulsion in digital photography to do a straight out of camera thing, which is really an untouched RAW photo not a JPEG, when good images have for years been the result of skillful processing. This is not to say that we should not try to get it right on scene, I do that and I think it shows good skill to do that, but I can't image showing any of my work "naked," especially if I let the camera make the decisions about processing. My goal is to create the most beautiful shot that I can, not to create a snapshot. Anyone can get a snapshot but it takes skill and good technique to create a beautiful image.

Viathelens said:

So many images can be improved with good processing and I cannot think of a reason not to do it. Yes, sometimes the light and the subject are just perfect and nothing much is needed, but most often, let's say 99% of the time, our work can be improved and made more beautiful with processing, just as people in the "dark ages" did with film. I don't know why there is this compulsion in digital photography to do a straight out of camera thing, which is really an untouched RAW photo not a JPEG, when good images have for years been the result of skillful processing. This is not to say that we should not try to get it right on scene, I do that and I think it shows good skill to do that, but I can't image showing any of my work "naked," especially if I let the camera make the decisions about processing. My goal is to create the most beautiful shot that I can, not to create a snapshot. Anyone can get a snapshot but it takes skill and good technique to create a beautiful image.

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Hi. Got to be careful as this topic can become polarised and we need to keep this a positive place. Totally agree with PP helping to improve the image and with my other version of the martial I tweaked the clarity and structure and added a little shadow at the face. My idea was to poke fun at the spammer (better to laugh or ignore than get angry) but also seeing what people were getting as their starting point. I’ve always felt that the closer you can get in the camera to what you want the better the end result will be. For my shot I’d seen the bird roost the previous evening so I knew where it was. I knew when it would take off to within half an hour or so and I know where the sun is and in which direction the bird will take off. My luck was that I could put both the sun and the wind behind me. Then it was just getting the settings put in and waiting for the moment. So I really wasn’t talking about a snapshot (please don’t tell me my martial is a snapshot - I’ll cry) and totally agree that it’s good technique and skill that’s needed though I’d add luck to the list. Just is that I rely on field craft, technique/ technical understanding and tracking/composition skills heavily, and PP to add the cherry on top. And of course all those times when I insist on taking photos in challenging conditions the PP gets stretched to the limit.