Australian Magpie head-on

[Ákos Lumnitzer]

I know the light is side-on here. I kind of still like it. From the same session as the one I posted a few days ago. Some comments wanted a blue, uniform BG to that. Well, this throws another spanner in the works. Does it HAVE to have the over-the-shoulder light? I will post a flipped version in the next pane. Not sure which lighting would be best in all honesty. :)

30D, 300/4L IS and 1.4x, ISO400, f/9, 1/250th. Zero EC. Cropped a bit from both sides and I generally don't like square-ish crops.

Thanks for looking and don't be shy, smash me if that is what I deserve! :D

[Ákos Lumnitzer]

flipped from above

[Connie Mier]

Akos, absolutely the second one does it for me. The side light does give it a mystique and a bit of danger to it, which is cool. But the second one is so in your face you can't help staring back at it. It has more detail and I like to dof. The detail is so much greater too. What do you mean by flipped version?
Connie

[Lorant Voros]

Szia Akos,

You look very different again on your photo :-)...more like on Facebook.

I prefer the first image. The second image is too obvious that it is a flip. If it was seamless it might work fine...or if the light was coming directly from behind you.

Fantastic detail and nice sharpness. Congrats.

[Hugh J McLaughlin]

The first has a mystery to it that the second one doesn't. I see a blue fringe around the subject.

[Ákos Lumnitzer]

Thanks for the comments folks. i see the blue fringe now. should be able to fix

Connie,
A flip is basically an image cropped, then duplicated via a layer then the top layer is flipped over, then canvas is added (100% increase in one directio) then the flipped images is dragged over with the move tool.
Check some of the flips we did in the Out of the box forums two weeks ago (shameless plug for OOTB!!!!) See what I mean there.

Lori, I really should have me in my avatar not one of my heroes. :D Thanks for looking. What's facebook? ;)

[Lorant Voros]

Akos,

Facebook is where people who know you put pictures and you can feel embarrassed that they got you while you were drunk or proud because of the girl standing next to you. If birds could go on the net and check BPN...that would be a Facebook for them. I prefer BPN, though I am not a bird.

I still prefer the first image :-).

[Ákos Lumnitzer]

Akos,

Facebook is where people who know you put pictures and you can feel embarrassed that they got you while you were drunk or proud because of the girl standing next to you. If birds could go on the net and check BPN...that would be a Facebook for them. I prefer BPN, though I am not a bird.

I still prefer the first image :-).

hey, they didn't get me after all my sambuccas and beers last Saturday night!!! :D Lucky my friends with me then are not BPN-ers. I'm safe brother. For now.

[Ramon M. Casares]

The OP works very well for me, and with a dark BG it would've had a noce feel too. Although I do like the "light" from the second post.
Nice in-you-face portrait. Great detail, although a tad oversharpened to me.
Congratulations!

[Stu Bowie]

Hi prefer your OP mate. The repost is obvious, but great pp work to achieve what you did. The light has brought sharp detail and good job on the eye. Im not going to ask, as Im sure you tried to recover some detail from the shadows. Still, a great in your face image, and I like the eye contact. You are turning out some great images recently mate.

[Raymond Barlow]

cool image buddy,.. and some interesting PP for the second version.

[Leo Berzins]

Interesting technique, Ákos, but I prefer the OP.

The magpie is not perfectly square to the camera so the flipped image has broadened the beak and the spacing between the eyes which give it an odd appearance (especially when combined with the unnatural symmetry).

A sharp and detailed image overall, though, with great eye contact.

[Kiran Poonacha]

Oh Bhai.. you look too clean in your new avathar for me to handle :D.

I like the OP too Bhai, the mean head on pose makes it interesting. May be you should just work a little more on the shadows, it would look great..

[Erich Stevens]

Akos,

Your image has the detail a portrait should have. DOF draws to the bird's eye.