<< Previous Next >>

Reach for the Sky


Reach for the Sky
Photo Information
Copyright: John Plumb (JPlumb) Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 619 W: 158 N: 896] (2904)
Genre: Animals
Medium: Color
Date Taken: 2007-01-01
Categories: Mammals
Camera: Nikon D200, NIKKOR AF-S 18-200mm F3.5-5.6 ED DX VR
Exposure: f/5.6, 1/750 seconds
More Photo Info: [view]
Photo Version: Original Version
Date Submitted: 2007-03-06 19:30
Viewed: 2996
Points: 44
[Note Guidelines] Photographer's Note
There’s a Trampoline Club, The Skyriders, in Richmond Hill, Ontario, Canada. Their motto has always been appropriately “Reach for the Sky”. I’ve always kind of liked that motto, so I’m borrowing it for this shot of the Grey Headed Flying Fox.

Sometimes during the day, especially if they are quarreling among themselves you will see a sight such as this one, where a Flying Fox will fly off on its own. Most of the time though, flight is at night. Around dusk each evening, adults and adolescents leave the camp to search for food. The timing of departure appears to be influenced by the availability and range of food. They eat nectar and pollen from the blossoms of native trees, in particular gum trees, native fruits, and orchard fruits when their preferred foods are not available. They may travel up to 50 kilometres each night for their feed.

Much of this from:
http://www.dse.vic.gov.au/dse/nrenpa.nsf/FID/-BAA86C6B029BC723CA256BF2001E4069?OpenDocument
http://www.livingharbour.net/mammals/flyingfox.htm

Shot in Raw
NEF file adjusted for highlights and shadows
Separate curves for RGB and colour
Selected on Bat and retouched curves
Brightness and Contrast Layer added
Dodge and burn with overlay layer
Noise reduction on sky
Saved as tiff
Cropped (format selection used to “show off” wing spread, and give her some room to fly), image size reduced, framed, sharpened with smart sharpen for this post, saved as a jpeg

I personally find this kind of shot interesting because you can really see the structure of those wings. They are extremely thin membranes, supported by very strong muscles near the chest and a well developed arterial supply throughout. The hand structure of the bat is well seen here as well with the four fingers; the extended one it uses to grasp.

This is the last shot of the Flying Foxes I’m going to show for awhile, it’s time to move on. Other shots in this series and the rest of the story can be seen at:
Not The Birds
High Hanging Fruit
Top Gun
Mother and Child and
Eyes on You
jeanpaul, Adanac, Ken52, lovenature, shal, jhm, GLEM, oki, mlines, jazdzurka, scottevers7, Necipp, bobcat08, pierrefonds has marked this note useful
Only registered TrekNature members may rate photo notes.
Add Critique [Critiquing Guidelines] 
Only registered TrekNature members may write critiques.
Discussions
ThreadThread Starter Messages Updated
To oki: LuckyJPlumb 1 03-11 07:20
You must be logged in to start a discussion.

Critiques [Translate]

Bonsoir John
C'est une tres belle photo en plein vol ce qui doit être très difficile quand on voit les écarts qu'elles font dans les airs.
Bravo et au revoir...JP

  • Great 
  • Adanac Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 1433 W: 1 N: 6136] (20976)
  • [2007-03-06 21:27]

Hi John,
Great in flight of this beautiful bat, you can see his fingers very well, thanks for sharing.
Rick

  • Great 
  • Ken52 Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 637 W: 93 N: 1242] (4191)
  • [2007-03-06 22:09]

Hi John, great view of this bat giving us an excellent view of the wings. It is an interesting structure. Beautiful blue sky background. Nicely framed.

Hi John
Wow! This is a special capture of your bat...right overhead and all. So sharp I can see the veins in his wings. His little feet are so cute and tiny. Lighting and colours are great.

I can't help but think that bats look so primitive. I can just imagine what a Pteradactal looked like as it flew over.
To cool...Janice

  • Great 
  • arfer Gold Star Critiquer [C: 2731 W: 0 N: 0] (0)
  • [2007-03-06 22:58]

Hello John

Another episode of the caped crusader.Excellent capture,the in flight wing spread shows alot of interesting detail.I love the little toes!A wonderful shot.TFS

Rob

  • Great 
  • shal Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 256 W: 64 N: 481] (2140)
  • [2007-03-07 0:25]

Hi John,
excellent lighting, good to see those details between the wings,
good details :)
Cheers :D

  • Great 
  • jhm Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 914 W: 0 N: 507] (1850)
  • [2007-03-07 2:15]

Hi John,

Lovely detailed picture, so sharp I can see the veins in his wings, also the toes, wonderful shot from this shot this flying Bat.
TFS.

Regards,
John.

  • Great 
  • GLEM Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 539 W: 87 N: 750] (6706)
  • [2007-03-07 3:49]

hi John,
assez rare les images de cet animal. Bon coup d'oeil et joli cadrage qui donne une dynamique intéressante.

amitiés

  • Great 
  • oki Gold Star Critiquer/Silver Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 81 W: 10 N: 114] (584)
  • [2007-03-07 4:04]
  • [+]

Hi John,
excellent picture, the deatils of the wings and arms are amazing. Seemed to be a very lucky moment to get the picture.
Thanks for the informative text,
well done and best regards,
Oki

Hi John. Well timed capture of this fbat in flight. The detail visible is superb. I like to see the translucency and even the blood vessels. Excellent sharpness and cropping. Murray.

I love the way of looking and the special subject you have photographied. Very nice. Thanks!

G'day John.
Great capture of this flying fox. Good detail. Shows a view that would usually be difficult to observe. Well done.
Regards. Steve.

Hi John
Your picture is wonderful. You've don good job. Good technically and well presented. I've also noticed the thin membrane of the wings.
Thanks for sharing
Ania

Hello John,
This is a nice capture in action of this special animal. I like this composition, POV, details and this great blue BG. This is well done and well timed. Thanks,
Claudine

Hi John,

An excellent shot on the flying fox. Watched a Jeff Corbin special on Animal Planet station onthe efforts to protect them in Australia. I love how the detail in the wings shows so well with the light from overhead.

Scott

Amazing capture John! The head out into the sun, and a motto along the lines of "Up, up, and away"... I agree with the showing off of the skeleton, and the veining. Amazing, not? Also a good compo having the bat in the lower left triangle. Tfs, Jay

Hello John what a superb catch nice detail in the underwings good stretched pose nicely composed flying from diagnol tfs rgds Necip.

Hi John,
great capture. colors very nice.
bats, especially fruit bats including rousettus, my nickname, my favourite animals. thank your very much for showing.
well dones
Ahmet

Hello John,
Aren't they funny..!
This is an amazing creature, and very well captured giving good details...
Educational image, very well composed!
Greetings,
Pablo -

:-) OK-

Hi John,
What a excellent capture. The flight wing spread shows alot of interesting detail, specialy the structure of the wings. POV and BG are almost perfect. Colours oké. A wonderful shot. Regards Bob

Hi John,

A nice image of the flying fox, the photo has a good composition, sharpness and nice colors. Thanks for sharing.

Pierre

  • Great 
  • Bandit (46)
  • [2007-10-12 3:47]

Impressionnante photo !! On a l'impression que c'est une aile volante d'une autre époque !!!
Bravo !!!!

Calibration Check
















0123456789ABCDEF