Going with the flow ...

[Brian Wong]

EOS 40D, 500/4
1/1600, f/4, ISO 1600, handheld on James' boat, manual exposure

Going with the flow ...

Photographed last month while on Jim Neiger's and James Shadle's BAA approved "Best of Florida" workshop.

In this evening image, a lone Spoonbill is just "going with the flow". I really enjoyed these blast-off (huge arc of Ibis flew-over toward us). A slightly larger 1752 x 800, 260K image is located at:

http://www.s88754029.onlinehome.us/image/BrianWong-Copyright-IMG_FlowL.jpg

Also, to add some fun ... can anybody spot the discrepancy between the given technicals, and this image as presented?

Thank you for looking, and your tips for improvement are always appreciated.

[Arthur Morris]

Lovely concept and the merge of the spoonie with the birds above was most unfortunate...If it had been one foot lower you would have been famous. No to the discrepancy...

[Daniel Cadieux]

Wow, very cool image!! Agree with Artie about the spoonie's position (and merge) but still a photograph I'd love to have taken :-)

[Juan Aragonés]

Brian, the larger image is a pleasure for the eyes. The roseate spoonbill is the ice on the cake! I really like the soft light and the fact that all the flock is facing to the right. Well done

[Brian Wong]

Thank you for the encouragement Juan!


Lovely concept and the merge of the spoonie with the birds above was most unfortunate...If it had been one foot lower you would have been famous. No to the discrepancy...


Wow, very cool image!! Agree with Artie about the spoonie's position (and merge) but still a photograph I'd love to have taken :-)

OK Artie and Daniel ...
I just got out the waders ... and jumped into the water to join James. That way, I was able to be that "one foot lower" for this repost.:)

:cool:Hint, Hint!>> I "saw" a beautiful blast off ... but this wide-view "Illustration" is my attempt in sharing that wonderful moment! Any more sharp-eyes care to guess??

Repost also here:

http://www.s88754029.onlinehome.us/image/BrianWong-Copyright-IMG_FlowL_Artie.jpg

[Arthur Morris]

Excellent quick jump or excellent Photoshop work. Now that I checked out the larger version I can let you know that it would have been better witht he spoonies wings in the FULL downstroke position. Really... I still love it.

[Paul Pagano]

The rework is the bomb. I'd love to get one of these shots one day....

[Juan Aragonés]

Wow, excellent reposition! The new version is much better of the indeed very good original post. The roseate looks better now (fantastic PS work!!!). Would love to have a large copy of this one hanging on one of my walls at home ;)

[Brian Wong]

Sorry that the answer to the discrepancy is not very obvious (it was not meant to be a trick:().

A 500 at f/4 has a narrow depth-of-field (DOF), as well as a narrow field-of-view (FOV).

Presented illustration looks like a wide-angle lens, and at a small aperture. To simulate this effect (plus the mood & the moment of the blast-off), 3 frames were stitched into this panorama blast-off illustration.

Some interesting ideas:
a) Various birds throughout the whole flock are in focus ... even though left birds are farther away & smaller than right birds (near impossible with a single plane of focus).
b) The blast-off flight-arc can be seen in one illustration ... left birds flying across, while right birds flying toward and overhead.
c) For the composition, a couple of birds were removed to emphasize the diagonal triangle, and the "S" shaped flight path.
d) A "gold star":) to Juan, who noticed the image somehow looks better with birds flying to the right (image flipped and I don't know why that is so).


Excellent quick jump or excellent Photoshop work..
e) A "gold star":) to Artie for first noticing my shameless PS manipulation.


Hope you enjoyed the effect. Thank you all again, I greatly value all the wisdom offered from everyone on the site.

[Arthur Morris]

Brian, I shall take you to task on the following: "Presented illustration looks like a wide-angle lens, and at a small aperture." I do not agree with the first part of your statement, and if you were far away, d-o-f would be a non-issue...