Roseate Spoonbill Blur

[Joseph Przybyla]

I read Artie's books. I was at Circle B Bar Reserve in March of last year. It was just beginning to get light, the wading birds were dropping into a shallow pool of water that provided a feeding frenzy. Too dark for normal photography so I tried blurs. WDYT? Comments and critique welcomed and appreciated. Thank you for viewing.

Nikon D500
Nikon 80-400mm F/4.5-5.6 VRII AF-S ED image captured at 400mm
1/15 F/5.6 Matrix Metering EV +2 ISO 360 Auto 1 WB HH
Post processed in Lightroom Classic CC, Photoshop CC 2018 and Neat Image for noise reduction
Cropped for composition and presentation

[John Mack]

Looks like it was foggy. Always fun to experiment. I like the blurs with multiple birds versus the ones with just one bird.

[Tim Foltz]

Joe. very artsy, looks like it was done in chalk pastels.

-Tim

[Daniel Cadieux]

It's artsy, and I too like the pastel colours, but I would prefer a bit more darks or contrast. Neat BG.

[Arthur Morris]

Hey Joe, I like the pose and the degree of blurring. With single birds, try 1/30 or 1//60. In a perfect world, you can get the head and eye a bit sharp ... The closer the bird, the more the blurring at a given shutter speed.

The bird is too far forward in the frame -- it needs more room in front than behind, just as a sharp image would. I think that a boost in contrast would help as well.

with love, artie

ps: for the rest of the boys and girls: A Guide to Pleasing Blurs (http://birdsasart-shop.com/a-guide-to-pleasing-blurs/) by Denise Ippolito and yours truly -- an e-Guide.

[Joseph Przybyla]

Thanks everyone for viewing and commenting, very much appreciated.

Dan and Artie, I reworked the image using your suggestions. Here is a repost. WDYT?

[Arthur Morris]

Mucho better. Now try some at 1/60 sec. With single birds you will still get a nice blur.

with love, artie

[Arthur Morris]

FWIW, Auto Tone at 39% opacity.

a

[Jonathan Ashton]

I like it Jo, I am hoping I may get a barn owl but the light is currently very low so this technique maybe worthwhile giving a try. I like the darker toned one but must admit I also like the first.

[Joseph Przybyla]

FWIW, Auto Tone at 39% opacity.

a

Thanks Artie, I will give it a go using your settings.

[Joseph Przybyla]

Thanks everyone for viewing and commenting, very much appreciated.

[William Dickson]

Love this one Joe, just like a beautiful painting. Well done, must try it some time..

Will

[Dorian Anderson]

I get what you were going for, but it's too abstract for my taste. As it is looks shot through a fogged car window. Would have worked better with a bit ore light and slightly faster shutter. But I'm too scared to even try stuff like this since I know I can't make it work!

[Jim Crosswell]

This is an interesting image Joseph! I like the increased contrast on the bird in the last repost but the BG of the original . I wonder what it would look like if they were combined. Well done.

[Krishna Prasad kotti]

Very Dreamy and Painterly look to the image.

Nice Artistic image.

Something to look for sharper eye and sharper head with wing blurs...

TFS