Arthur Morris
02-10-2008, 05:33 PM
With landscape images, creating a stitched panorama would not raise a single eyebrow, but with birds and wildlife that would not be the case, especially when the image was not pre-planned... This is the first older image that I have posted here as there are two interesting stories that go with it.
I was teaching an IPT at the St. Augustine Alligator Farm on May 15, 2006. Jack Panzeca a good friend and multiple IPT veteran was right on my shoulder with another two folks packed in tightly around us. I was teaching the flash as main light technique. It was pre-dawn with white skies. We had a nest just above our position with two active chicks. Just after we had fine-tuned the exposure (while working in Manual flash mode) this chick raised up and yawned. And missed. I cut about 1/8 inch off the tip of the upper mandible. But boy, what a spectacular frame. While editing I noticed that the next frame had the top of the bill and the head in it with the bird in roughly the same position but without the huge gaping mouth and throat. At the time I did not know a Quick Mask from Zorro's mask and by sheer luck--after expanding the canvas, I hit the exact perfect spot with the Clone stamp. I could not do that again in a million tries. (Today, using Robert O'Toole's QM techniques (as described in APTATS), creating the stitched panorama would have been a snap. IAC, I loved the resulting image.
The other day I received an e-mail from the folks at NWF asking about the image which they wanted to use as a full page in one of their children's publications. I told them that the image was a combination of two images. Next day I got a call from the Photo Editor who was not exactly thrilled to learn that the image was a composite. She suggested that we should have indicated that in either the EXIF data or the image caption as we always do with images of captive animals (though I do that only very rarely). I agreed. I explained that there was nothing in the final image that was not there at the moment I pressed the shutter button. The next day I got a call and learned that after much discussion in a staff meeting that they had decided to use it labeled as a digital composite. Ranger Rick was actually the very first publication to let their readers know (via a letter code) if an image was of a captive animal or if it was created in controlled conditions. I applauded that when it happened and applaud it now.
The image was created with the Canon 500mm f/4 L IS lens with the 2X II TC and the EOS-1Ds MII. ISO 400. 1/250 sec. at f/25 in Manual mode with the flash at 1:2 in Manual flash mode (with a Better Beamer). Can anyone explain how the white sky was rendered blue in the original?
Don't be shy; all comments welcome. Later and love, artie
I was teaching an IPT at the St. Augustine Alligator Farm on May 15, 2006. Jack Panzeca a good friend and multiple IPT veteran was right on my shoulder with another two folks packed in tightly around us. I was teaching the flash as main light technique. It was pre-dawn with white skies. We had a nest just above our position with two active chicks. Just after we had fine-tuned the exposure (while working in Manual flash mode) this chick raised up and yawned. And missed. I cut about 1/8 inch off the tip of the upper mandible. But boy, what a spectacular frame. While editing I noticed that the next frame had the top of the bill and the head in it with the bird in roughly the same position but without the huge gaping mouth and throat. At the time I did not know a Quick Mask from Zorro's mask and by sheer luck--after expanding the canvas, I hit the exact perfect spot with the Clone stamp. I could not do that again in a million tries. (Today, using Robert O'Toole's QM techniques (as described in APTATS), creating the stitched panorama would have been a snap. IAC, I loved the resulting image.
The other day I received an e-mail from the folks at NWF asking about the image which they wanted to use as a full page in one of their children's publications. I told them that the image was a combination of two images. Next day I got a call from the Photo Editor who was not exactly thrilled to learn that the image was a composite. She suggested that we should have indicated that in either the EXIF data or the image caption as we always do with images of captive animals (though I do that only very rarely). I agreed. I explained that there was nothing in the final image that was not there at the moment I pressed the shutter button. The next day I got a call and learned that after much discussion in a staff meeting that they had decided to use it labeled as a digital composite. Ranger Rick was actually the very first publication to let their readers know (via a letter code) if an image was of a captive animal or if it was created in controlled conditions. I applauded that when it happened and applaud it now.
The image was created with the Canon 500mm f/4 L IS lens with the 2X II TC and the EOS-1Ds MII. ISO 400. 1/250 sec. at f/25 in Manual mode with the flash at 1:2 in Manual flash mode (with a Better Beamer). Can anyone explain how the white sky was rendered blue in the original?
Don't be shy; all comments welcome. Later and love, artie