|
| Group |
Round |
C/R |
Comment |
Date |
Image |
| 67 |
Jan 24 |
Reply |
Wow it's nice to hear that you were able to drive such a good change for your town! |
Jan 25th |
| 67 |
Jan 24 |
Comment |
I love this. You found a wonderful section of the mud with that nice diagonal element to the pattern. The color scheme is great. Patterns, color and texture are what it's all about. |
Jan 17th |
| 67 |
Jan 24 |
Comment |
You managed to capture a really nice preening pose- this looks so elegant with the position of the bill and the one wispy feather going across it. The soft, golden background is a pretty complement to the white subject.
I am in the camp that it feels unbalanced with the amount of blank space on one side. Here's my suggestion- not just a crop, but a horizontal flip so the stick is coming out of the lower left corner. To me the diagonal going in that direction helps with the flow of the image. |
Jan 17th |
 |
| 67 |
Jan 24 |
Comment |
Count me in the jealous group! What an opportunity- it does pay to be ready. Last weekend a friend and I were driving to a birding destination and my camera was in the bag- we came on a road kill deer with a Golden Eagle feeding on it! Needless to say no shots, I didn't want to risk spooking it to get the camera out :( But I do wonder about the choice of 1/125 for birds as a starting setup...
I like Michael's looser crop suggestion. An alternative to removing the stick might be to address the couple of bright spots on it which are what's drawing my eye to notice it. The blue background with the orange fox makes such a striking combination. Very nice image! |
Jan 17th |
| 67 |
Jan 24 |
Comment |
Well, I like having the green reed there as it is part of the story- whether the bug was actually snatched from it or not, that's the appearance. Beautiful light and sharpness.
Is your Platypod the Extreme or Ultra? I have an old ground-pod made of plywood with a screw bolted through it, but it is only useful in the sand. I've been playing with ground level shots with the Z8 using live-view on the flip out screen so I can sit up and not have to lie on my belly which my back howls in protest over. But I've just been holding the camera or resting it on the mounting foot, definitely not ideal. |
Jan 17th |
| 67 |
Jan 24 |
Comment |
Susan, the first thing I noticed was that the whites weren't blown! Yay! The Pelican's wing pose is quite nice, and it looks good and sharp. Well done on that.
As for the crop/composition, the main thing I'd change is to re-frame it so the pelican is further right with more space "in front" and less "behind" the bird. Give it a bit more space to fly in to. I rather like having the flamingos there as it establishes the place. I just find that they're over-saturated and thus demand too much attention. Here's my take, going with much less dehaze and saturation.
|
Jan 17th |
 |
| 67 |
Jan 24 |
Comment |
Good thing you don't have an HOA that MAKES you cut the weeds :)
Super nice catch to get not only a sharp bird, but with a big wiggly moth in it's beak. Usually the prey is too small to be seen well like this. The motion blur of the moth's wings adds to the story. I appreciate your desire to include the background and habitat, but agree the cones are a distraction.
I actually rather like having the leaves as part of the composition, so I gave a go at trying to make them not compete so much with the bird. After increasing the overall exposure, I cropped the image and upsized it in Topaz. Then used AI masking to select the leaves only and brought the exposure and saturation down to make them blend more with the tones of the rest of the background. |
Jan 17th |
 |
| 67 |
Jan 24 |
Reply |
Hi Richard, thanks for your comments. I'll play around with the clarity change you suggested- I wanted to have enough detail in the iceberg that it isn't just a blob, which is why I made the choice I did. But maybe it's too much competition with the birds. I too would love to have more separation of the penguins, I just didn't end up with any frame where that happened and this was the least overlap of the lot. |
Jan 14th |
6 comments - 2 replies for Group 67
|
| 91 |
Jan 24 |
Comment |
Hi Sanat, This is a nice capture of the Ibis. I didn't realize how wide-spread this species is, we have it here in the US too.
I like your crop leaving a nice amount of habitat space around the bird. I think it's a little bit personal taste, but I prefer that to very little "breathing room".
I actually think the original capture looks quite good in terms of exposure and colors. Adjusting the black and white point a little bit on the Levels curve will give a bit more contrast. I don't think it needs as much adjustment as you did. Again it's a bit of personal taste but I think the colors look more natural in the original. |
Jan 23rd |
| 91 |
Jan 24 |
Comment |
Marge, very nice capture with the bit of food in the beak and the nice shape to the perch. I agree with Adrian on the crop suggestion- that lower left corner works. Your horizon placement works really well here- it doesn't bisect the bird or the branch!
To me this has a "muddy" appearance, like it's a bit under exposed. However you don't want to blow out those whites so you could brighten it some using shadows or other brightness control that doesn't affect the whole range. Maybe a bit more saturation as well. |
Jan 17th |
| 91 |
Jan 24 |
Comment |
All I can say is Wow. A dramatic image with that head-on view and the bill full of the sand eels. Well done. |
Jan 17th |
| 91 |
Jan 24 |
Comment |
The poses of the birds tell a great story, especially with the peanut in the beak! Love the kicked up snow adding to the drama. Great exposure and nice detail in the snow.
I'd like to see just a smidge more space all around, feels a bit cramped for moving birds, to my eye. A bit more DoF might've been the key for getting both birds sharp- it's pretty shallow with long lenses. The compromise is not getting the background too sharp. Something to experiment with, given it's not a one-time event (well maybe this year it will be!)
Very engaging image with a good story.
|
Jan 17th |
| 91 |
Jan 24 |
Comment |
Lovely! I like the way the leaves of the perch provide a nice diagonal element to the compostion. Space on the left looks good to my eye.
The soft light really helps here in evening out all the tonalities. The colors in the background set off the bird well, and it was distant enough to be pleasantly soft. |
Jan 17th |
| 91 |
Jan 24 |
Comment |
A nice pose of the bird, I like the open beak. All the clouds in the sky are a nice bonus compared with a blank blue sky. Bringing out the detail on the body looks ok to me.
I too would crop so there's more space for the bird to fly in to.
There are a lot of artifacts from the branch removal- both in the sky and in between the feather tips. Maybe better to leave the branches? |
Jan 17th |
| 91 |
Jan 24 |
Reply |
Thanks for the input. I like bright, colored water, but maybe went too far with this one. See my redo below. |
Jan 17th |
| 91 |
Jan 24 |
Comment |
I modified the brightness of the yellow given your feedback. It does balance better with the darker birds. Thanks!. |
Jan 17th |
 |
| 91 |
Jan 24 |
Reply |
Hi Bruce, thanks for your crop suggestion. It's a bit tight at the bottom for me but something in between I like!
I did get the all butts-up shot but didn't like it as much. In part because the pattern of the birds wasn't as good. Here it is with the "in-between" crop. A concept I'll just have to keep working at! |
Jan 6th |
 |
7 comments - 2 replies for Group 91
|
13 comments - 4 replies Total
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