Fire

[Juan Aragonés]

Hi all. I was almost ready to post another flight image but in the last second I decided to go for something different, a more creative image. This morning, I have been at home, working on a new painting.
A really big one... the biggest I have done to date (2,44x1,22m). A real endeavour for me but it is very funny to do and very rewarding because I heve been without inspiration for a very long time and it is great when inspiration decides to visit you. After a bunch of hours with paints and brushes I needed a shower but also my small dose of BPN:p

I think that my morning devoted to painting is the reason why I post this image. This couple of small silouettes is a pair of black necked grebes (Podiceps nigricollis) swiming right on the sun set reflection. It is a big crop (4,5Mp) because they were very far from my reach and it is not the sharpest image I have ever done
but I like the strong graphic power: simmetry, simplycity of composition, colors, balance... it looks to me like one of those oriental "Ying-Yang" icons and I like the overall result and I think that I will keep it.

I am very interested to hear your opinion, critics and coments about this image. please, let me know what do you think about it :)

Marismas del Odiel (Huelva)

Nikon D2X AFS Nikkor 500VR + 1,4XTC f5,6, ISO 400, 1/2000s WH2 and tripod, manual exposure

[Arthur Morris]

I love the contrast of the left and right portions of the image. Great timing with the shutter release. Would like to see the left bird a bit blacker/more sharply defined(???) What was the EXP compensation? Lastly, I would love to see what the ORIG looked like, not so much for the crop bur for the EXP on each side of the image.

[Nicki Gwynn Jones]

Hi Juan!
I love the creativity here - this really works for me. It is all about the feelings that it evokes - I could look at this for hours...
Good luck with the painting!
Best,
Nicki

[Juan Aragonés]

Nicki and Artie thanks a lot for your coments :)
Artie, no exposure compensation here, just matrix metering. Of course the original file has some hot areas in the red channel in the left area of the frame and I reduced exposition a bit (-0,3) during RAW conversion (and some additional levels adjustment). I would like to see the left bird more sharp but it is not, but the one in the right is more sharp. As I stated in my post I am not very happy with the sharpness in this image :o
Here is te original file converted to jpeg. By the way, I forget to say that the original file was made using the high speed crop mode (6Mp) of the Nikon D2X. The action was so fast that only this frame was good

[Juan Aragonés]

And here is a 100% crop of the bird that I would like to have in better focus

[Stu Bowie]

Great work Juan. I really like the contrast, and amazing colour with sunset. You could split this image, and create two separate images. Well thoughtout. I would like to see your painting.

[David Hemmings]

Hello Juan, Good for you finding some inspiration to paint :) I like this image first for the colors and the contrast of the two sides. It looks as though one duck has crossed into another realm and the second is about to follow. The reversal angle is cool as well. Notices your sig and web address are reversed as well :). All in all it is a pretty image, worthy to keep.

[David Thomasson]

This is a very creative shot, Juan. I like it a lot. I'm torn between the original post and the larger frame that shows some of the shadow area to the left of the reflection.

As for getting the left bird in better focus, you could always use the clone tool and cheat a bit. It's easy enough to define the edges by cloning from the dark interior of the bird's form.

http://img10.imageshack.us/img10/3997/clonecheat.jpg

[Chris Kotze]

Excellent image I like the second post. Awesome capture and mood

[Arthur Morris]

And here is a 100% crop of the bird that I would like to have in better focus

Hey Juan, Thanks on all counts. I was thinking that the bird on the left should be as sharp as the bird on the right as you had lots of d-o-f but that it was the strong backlight that degraded the edges.

Anyone have a clue as to whether that is valid?

[Arthur Morris]

This is a very creative shot, Juan. I like it a lot. I'm torn between the original post and the larger frame that shows some of the shadow area to the left of the reflection.

As for getting the left bird in better focus, you could always use the clone tool and cheat a bit. It's easy enough to define the edges by cloning from the dark interior of the bird's form.

http://img10.imageshack.us/img10/3997/clonecheat.jpg

Hey David, Great job on the clone sharpening. One question: how in the world did you get the sharp
fuzzy feathers on top of the head?

[Juan Aragonés]

Thanks a lot for your comments and suggestions, much appreciated. :)

David you did an excelent job sharpening the OOF bird with the clone tool. I have to try your methods, it looks great ;)

[David Thomasson]

Hey David, Great job on the clone sharpening. One question: how in the world did you get the sharp
fuzzy feathers on top of the head?

Cheat with abandon! :D Here's the clone layer. You can see where I simply used a small clone brush and sketched them in (trying to remain faithful to the blurred indications visible on the image).

http://img359.imageshack.us/img359/1576/clonecheat2.jpg

[Fabs Forns]

Juan, I like the colors and texture of the water very much. David found a solution to the sharpenss problem and your composition rocks!!!

[Doug Brown]

Lovely photo Juan. I like the comparison to Yin-Yang. Good stuff from David on clone sharpening. I've never tried that before, but it's a clever solution to the problem at hand.

[Arthur Morris]

Cheat with abandon! :D Here's the clone layer. You can see where I simply used a small clone brush and sketched them in (trying to remain faithful to the blurred indications visible on the image).

http://img359.imageshack.us/img359/1576/clonecheat2.jpg

Man, that is good. I have blackened the edges of silhouetted birds before but never thought to add the tiny feathers. When you used the small brush to do that did you also increase the hardness?

Thanks for sharing your expertise with us and of course for your membership support.