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Fred J. Lord
06-02-2008, 09:46 PM
This was shot yesterday at the Arapaho National Wildlife Refuge in North Park, CO.

1D Mark III, 500 f/4 w/1.4X TC II, ISO 200, 1/1600 @ f/7.1

Robert Amoruso
06-03-2008, 08:52 AM
Hey Fred,

I commented on the Teal in the Avian forum. Again great look to this image - soft light, the blue of the water, how the background transitions. Good head angle here on the grebes. I like the placement of one grebe inthe center and one to the left - provides tension to the image vs. say placing each the same distance for the frame left/right sides. The ripples always help to anchor images like this especially in pano. Nice work.

Fred J. Lord
06-03-2008, 10:52 AM
I guess you can see why I like skinny images. I had to spot a lot of debris out of the water on this one as well. I tried placing the eye of the LH Grebe on the third but just didn't like cutting the left edge that much. I do like that the ripples are centered but the birds aren't. It would have been boring with the birds centered.
Thanks again,
Fred

David Kennedy
06-03-2008, 11:48 AM
Fred,
Like Robert, I really like the presentation here. I actually wonder if toning down the redness of the eyes wouldn't hurt--they're like magnets for my attention, and it's hard to break away to look at the rest.
I appreciate that you've already done a lot of "debris spotting," but if you could do a little more, I think it would make for a dramatic image.

Fred J. Lord
06-03-2008, 12:40 PM
David:

I was thinking that I should spot retouch a bit more as well. I will be working more on this one as I want to do a large print.

Fred

Robert Amoruso
06-03-2008, 02:09 PM
I need to put my glasses on when I am looking at fine detail and agree with David a bit more retouching is needed.

Desaturating the eyes would be good.

Fred J. Lord
06-03-2008, 04:16 PM
Okay, here is a later image with the dirt and bubbles in the water spotted out. The eyes are toned down quite a bit too.

Please let me know how that works.

Fred

David Kennedy
06-05-2008, 10:31 AM
Fred,
I think this is a great improvement over the first post. The only thing I'd note is that you seem to have introduced a black spot on the left edge that wasn't in the first post. Otherwise, I think you're finished with this one. Well done!

David

Fred J. Lord
06-05-2008, 08:00 PM
Thanks for the pointer. The crop may have wobbled a bit.

Fred

Axel Hildebrandt
06-05-2008, 09:39 PM
The repost looks great! I might sharpen the birds a tad more.

Grady Weed
06-06-2008, 10:19 AM
Print the re-post Fred! Excellently captured. Hard work and determination pays off.

Robert Amoruso
06-06-2008, 01:14 PM
Fred,

Reworked version looks great. Will look lovely printed.

Fred J. Lord
06-06-2008, 03:46 PM
I will be printing it soon.

Fred

Arthur Morris
06-14-2008, 06:56 AM
He Fred,

Before you print it you can work very large, select the pupils with a Quick Mask, and darken them to increase the apparent sharpness. You can use CNTRL M (curves on the layer) or CNTRL U (Hue-SAT on a layer to darken. This technique and 100s more (inlcuding reducing the red SAT in cases like this) are included in ABPII.