Galapagos #9/Youngster

[Arthur Morris]

This immature Yellow-crowned Night-Heron was photographed at Darwin Bay, Tower Island with the 800mm f/5.6L IS lens and the EOS-1D MIII. ISO 800. Evaluative metering +2/3 stop: 1/200 sec. at f/10.

There were lots of this species around during our afternoon visit, most of them first year (like this one) or second year. All were browner than they are at similar ages in the US.

Don't be shy; all comments welcome.

[Ákos Lumnitzer]

Maestro,
No image! :D

[Arthur Morris]

Maestro, No image! :D

That happens often when you forget to attach and upload the image.... Thanks Oshkosh.

[Axel Hildebrandt]

The BG makes this really cool, I also like the light, composition and sharpness. If anything, I might run a tiny bit NR on the rock.

[Ákos Lumnitzer]

Wonderful work Artie. The eye on the right looks a little softer than the left side. Agree with Axel re NR. I wonder what your thoughts would be to crop half from above to tighten it? Thanks for sharing. :)

[Arthur Morris]

I'd be fine with 1/3 off the top. As for the eyes, ???????????????????????? Beyond me.

[Ákos Lumnitzer]

Hey, could be that there appears more light in one eye compared to the other plus the jpeg compression. No problemo! :)

[Ed Schneider]

Interesting BG, and I like it! Looks like the granite boulder is part of the bird. HA is very cool as well. Ditto on NR on BG :)

[arash_hazeghi]

lol, this is an interesting view, it has rendered the long beak almost flat, morph with BG makes it look like two eyes are coming out of camouflage. I like it better with slightly more contrast.

[Harshad Barve]

what a BG , liked the pose , HA , sharpness
Another vote for NR
TFS

BTW nice link to read http://www.rwongphoto.com/blog/top-10-influential-nature-photographers-alltime/

[Brian Zwiebel]

Hey Artie, Awesome example of camoflauge in this image. I feel if the bird were to shut its eyes it would totally disappear. I agree with the top crop suggesion, just to lose the lighter portion of the BG rock. I don't think the eye thing mentioned is truly a sharpness issue. The bird's left pupil looks like a gloss black where the right eye looks like a slightly flat black. Presumably just a touch more light coming over your right shoulder.

Good Shooting!

BZ

[Lorant Voros]

It is a wicked image...it looks like the rock is part of the body of the bird. Very interesting. I just read it above...other think the same way. For the rest I like the pose a lot, the sharpness and detail. Congratulations, master.

[Charlie VanTassel]

I like the similarly patterned background. It tends to even out the whole photo and draw attention to those eyes.

[Ilija Dukovski]

Very interesting way to make the eyes very prominent here. The colors on the boulder and the bird are
excellently composed and blended which makes the unusual and difficult HA actually perfect in this situation.
That way the eyes are making the image IMO.
Very strong expression. Most of your Galapagos images so far I think have some form of strong expression
one way or another. The mockingbird, the hawk, the chick and mother, now this one. Can't wait for more...

[Mohanram Kemparaju]

From the thumbnail, i thought the background was the back of the bird;)
Nice monochrome feel, brings out the eyes really well...wish the beak was also in focus(or is it the lighter tone that makes it appear oof?)

[Stu Bowie]

This guy is winning first prize for camoflauge, especially against that BG. The eyes takes this over the top for me, and would love to see him against a different BG.

[Dave Barnes]

Bird, what bird? I see a granite slab with eyes and if I look close-up I see what looks like feathered granite.:confused::D
Just love the effect, very "Arty".;)

[Kiran Poonacha]

Cool one Guruji, loved the Stareing pose and Details.. Congrats...

Also I read about you in the 10 most influential photographers, But I was not suprised at all.. because I knew it from day one "your the best"..:cool:

[Simon Bennett]

This image with the similar tones of background and plumage, and those riveting, clear eyes works exceptionally well.

[Krijn Trimbos]

Those eyes are fantastic! Very well seen and brilliantly executed! The camouflage is soo good that the eyes almost look like they are floathing. The way you took the bill out of, and both eyes into play with the straight on stare is great. A very artistic shot Mr Morris! Congrats!!!

[Arthur Morris]

From the thumbnail, i thought the background was the back of the bird;)
Nice monochrome feel, brings out the eyes really well...wish the beak was also in focus(or is it the lighter tone that makes it appear oof?)

Thanks all for dropping by and for your kind comments. Mohan, I went with f/10 here as a compromise. In retrospect, I wish that I had gone with f/5.6. If I had gone with a very small aperture in an attempt to get the whole bill sharp that would have sharpened the BKGR rock and the image would have lost the eyes floating in space feel.

[Arthur Morris]

Double NR on BKGR plus some Gaussian blur. Cropped from the top as suggested.

[Harshad Barve]

Fantastic repost Guruji
TFS

[Dr.Pranay Rao Juvvadi]

Love the straight on stare. I like the original BG, as it really compliments the bird's plumage.

[Erich Stevens]

Artie,

Love the detail in the eyes. You can actually see the speckles in the irises. The strong vertical crop doesn't work for me though. Leave it vertical, but I wish to see more canvas to the right, revealing more of the bird's body. I agree f/5.6 might've been a better choice to blur the BG even more and make those eyes pop better.

[Axel Hildebrandt]

I think the image looks better with less aggressive NR. I only used 'despeckle' on the BG once, which preserves more of the texture that makes this so special, at least to me. :)

[Arthur Morris]

Thanks Axel, Your version looks great. Not sure if it was the aggressive NR or the healthy Gaussian blur, probably the latter. I will post another one from scratch.

[Arthur Morris]

Those eyes are fantastic! Very well seen and brilliantly executed! The camouflage is soo good that the eyes almost look like they are floathing. The way you took the bill out of, and both eyes into play with the straight on stare is great. A very artistic shot Mr Morris! Congrats!!!


Thanks Mr. Krijn. Please call me Artie :)

[Arthur Morris]

Love the straight on stare. I like the original BG, as it really compliments the bird's plumage.

I felt that the ORIG BKGR went better with the bird and did not have to wait long for confirmation so thanks!

[Arthur Morris]

Here is the ORIG with CS3 NR at 10/40/90/0 plus a small crop from the top and a bit of BKGR evening out in the URC with a 67% Clone Stamp.

Do you see any visible differences in the quality of the BKGR between this and Axel's repost?

[Arthur Morris]

Artie, Love the detail in the eyes. You can actually see the speckles in the irises. The strong vertical crop doesn't work for me though. Leave it vertical, but I wish to see more canvas to the right, revealing more of the bird's body. I agree f/5.6 might've been a better choice to blur the BG even more and make those eyes pop better.

Sorry Erich; nothing more on the right but thanks for the suggestion.

[Dave Barnes]

Hi Arthur. the repost looks great and although the bird stands out better, I still prefer the granite block with eyes. It is just different and adds the edge IMHO. I know many will not agree but so be it.:D

[Mohanram Kemparaju]

Here is the ORIG with CS3 NR at 10/40/90/0 plus a small crop from the top and a bit of BKGR evening out in the URC with a 67% Clone Stamp.

Do you see any visible differences in the quality of the BKGR between this and Axel's repost?

I like your repost better, the BKGR blends really well with the body and thanks for responding to my comment Artie, now i know the thought process behind the image...

[Ashutosh Sinha]

Thanks for finally attaching the image, yesterday I was not able to see it :-).
Don't you think the bird covert feathers visible at the bottom right corner don't add much to the image as they are somewhat of different pattern than the background and other body feathers. Those feathers are not that well comuflaged and is some what distracting.

[Arthur Morris]

Hi Ashutosh,

Thanks for finally attaching the image, yesterday I was not able to see it :-).

YAW. That was for about two minutes.

Don't you think the bird covert feathers visible at the bottom right corner don't add much to the image as they are somewhat of different pattern than the background and other body feathers?

I do not think that.

Those feathers are not that well camouflaged and are somewhat distracting.

I do not find them at all distracting. As you find the distracting, what would your solution be?

[Arthur Morris]

Hi Arthur. the repost looks great and although the bird stands out better, I still prefer the granite block with eyes. It is just different and adds the edge IMHO. I know many will not agree but so be it.:D

Hi Dave, Are you referring to the ORIG post???

[Dave Barnes]

Yes Arthur the first post.

[Arthur Morris]

Thanks Dave, If you are talking about the repost in Pane 30, do note that it is virtually the same as the ORIG post but for NR on the BKGR.

[Dave Barnes]

Yip I noted that, the one I dont like is Pane 22 with the double NR and blur.
So many reposts I understand the confusion,sorry.

[Ilija Dukovski]

One more vote for #30 and/or Axel's repost. The eyes and the colors make the image here.

[Arthur Morris]

Dave, Thanks for the clear-if-ication!

[sree.kumar.h]

Nice perspective Artie. Interesting thought process and visualization. Like the re-post because the BG patterns are mild. The original post BG seem to cause some uneasiness to my eyes.

Sree