Catch me if you can!

[gail bisson]

Common mergansers are hilarious when they catch a big fish. The successful fisher must run /swim/fly away while the other mergansers chase him/her to steal the fish. The good fishers can swallow the fish on the run and quickly. The slower ones usually lose their catch.
I am posting this as a vertical but also processed it as a landscape. Which do you prefer?
Canon 5D MKIV 600mm and 1.4x converter
ISO 1600 F 6.3 SS 1/2500
I also used a different color profile for each. I used the Camera Standard for the vertical and Adobe Color (the default in LR CC) for the horizontal. Can you see the color difference?
I am very interested to see what you guys/gals have to say.
Nothing added or cloned.
Comments and critiques always learned from and appreciated with thanks,
Gail

[annmpacheco]

Hi Gail, i really see the difference and much prefer Camera Standard for theses reasons: whites are brighter and not so greyed, colors look realistic and not so saturated (look at the belly yellows). I'd prefer to adjust my colors if i choose... Love the fancy foot work and the fish is great!

[Mike Poole]

First off I love the action going on in this shot, great wing positions and even the unfortunate fish has been good enough to give us a nice shape with his last breath!

Composition wise I preferred the vertical on first look, but after a bit more time I am liking the horizontal - however I'm going to stick with my gut and say I prefer the vertical. Both work though.

There is quite a substantial difference in the highlights as presented. On my 1920px screen, there are some near blown out whites on the breast of the vertical and the bright BG is a bit overpowering. I took the vertical into PS, ran a luminosity mask and pulled down the curve on the brightest areas then de-saturated the yellows in the yellow channel of HSL

179868

Mike

[annmpacheco]

Wonderful processing Mike, this looks ideal, now i need to learn how to do what you did!

[gail bisson]

Thanks Mike! I have spent the last 2 hours watching you tube videos on luminosity and PM'ing with you and here is my repost- Not as good as yours because I struggle with using curves at the best of times but will play around with this new skill.
Thank you for your help,
Gail

[Joseph Przybyla]

Hey Gail, nice image and capture. I looked at all the images, read all the comments, I prefer the horizontal using Adobe Color. I think the tones are beautiful, the whites are well controlled and reddish/rusting breast is quite nice. If mine the only thing that would bug me would be the wave intersecting the bird. I think I might be tempted to try to remove it. Lovely image, thank you for sharing.

[Mike Poole]

I like your RP Gail, shows a bit more detail in the breast than mine and the BG is smoother on the middle wave, nice work

Mike

[John Mack]

Vertical. The pose is great and of course the fish. The low angle is nice. These birds are very hard to get close to in my neck of the woods. The color looks better in the vertical to me.

[Daniel Cadieux]

I love that fish with the long ridged fins adding tons of interest. Composition-wise I prefer the horizontal, and colour and tonal-wise I like Mike's version. Of yours, I like the horizontal's as well, but would rather the yellows be more subdued. Very cool opportunity you had here, and lucky it was not wasted by "heat" shimmer coming off the (I've had too many images ruined that way when going for ultra low angles off the water when it is very cold out) - I imagine it was not bone-chilling cold that day?

[dankearl]

This is really good... I have nothing but praise, great moment, perfect pose.

[Paul Burdett]

Mike's vertical for me. Stunning shot Gail...something I'd be proud to be able to get. TFS.

[Dorian Anderson]

Killer image Gail! The fish, stare, and action are great! I also think the vertical works much better, and I think your re-edit nails it. It so cool we can identify the prey as a flounder!

[Alex Becker]

Love it Gail. The RP is so nice. I love the pose, colors, splash, and prey item. The walking on water appearance is awesome too. TFS

[Chris van Rooyen]

It's all been said, I can just add my congratulations for :cheers:a superb image

[gail bisson]

I love that fish with the long ridged fins adding tons of interest. Composition-wise I prefer the horizontal, and colour and tonal-wise I like Mike's version. Of yours, I like the horizontal's as well, but would rather the yellows be more subdued. Very cool opportunity you had here, and lucky it was not wasted by "heat" shimmer coming off the (I've had too many images ruined that way when going for ultra low angles off the water when it is very cold out) - I imagine it was not bone-chilling cold that day?
Hi Daniel,
It was actually the coldest day of the month -22C but it was a very windy day with gusts up to 60KM an hour.I think the wind took care of the heat shimmer!

[Geoffrey Montagu]

Neat moment captured, Gail. Love the eye contact, wing position, and the unique looking fish. Do you know the type of fish?


Geoffrey




http://500px.com/geoffreymontagu (http://500px.com/geoffreymontagu)