Mad Wet Hooded

[john crookes]

Taken last winter on the Charles River

Nikon D2x 300mm f5.6 Iso 400 at 1/320th

He just kind of poped up in front of me and I don't know who was more startled

[Arthur Morris]

Cool and unusual pose and framing. Top of the head looks funky; too much shadow highlight???

Later and love, artie

[Jim Poor]

"Get OUT of my LAKE!" Love it.

For some reason it got a little washed out looking and there is a bit of a cast when displayed in FIrefox. Looks great in Safari more like this:

[john crookes]

The top of the head did look kinda FUNNY to me too '
I did not use s/h and in some other frames there is the same look
maybe something picked up while diving in the water
not sure


Maybe Thia a little better for the top

[Axel Hildebrandt]

This is an opportunity well taken advantage of. I agree with Jim regarding a reddish color cast.

[Grady Weed]

That is one intense stare.

[john crookes]

I believe the red you are talking about is the reflection of the opposite shoreline and the vegetation on it

also late in the day and under some clouds even though the far sky had some blue in it

Jims repost to me is much too blue and the breast on these guys up close can have a slight yellow cast when in the shade as this one

John

[Fabs Forns]

Nice repost by Jim, unusual angle!

[john crookes]

I just do not get the repost from jim to me it is so cold blue as to be distracting

the most I would do is to neutral the cast like this

But I prefer a warmer tone that is more prevelant up here in the northeast on a cloudy winters day

color temp was around 7100 on a color meter from minolta on this day


I guess it is all personell taste but I do try to reflect what was happening at the time the shutter went click

[Axel Hildebrandt]

John, is your monitor calibrated? I noticed in my office on my uncalibrated monitor that images look slightly warmer than at home. Maybe it's the other way around in your case. 7100K seems quite high.

[john crookes]

I did not say the wb was 7100

I said at the time of the photograph i took a light reading with a Minolta color meter that is calibrated and that the ambient temperature was at 7100 degrees.
i do not use the exact setting but keep it as a reference point as most digital cameras do tend to be a bit higher on the red side

and yes i do use two calibrated artisan 24 inch monitorsand theyare calibrated weekly

Johni

[Jim Poor]

I can see why you don't like the cooler color in the water. The main thing I wanted to change was the muddy look in the blacks.
Perhaps if I had confined the change to only the blacks, it would be more appealing to you.
I actually measured the black area on the head, and the red values were pretty high. Thinking about it, since he just came up from a dive, it makes sense that the same red vegetation that is reflected in the water might be reflected off the head too. I'd have to check the angles on a computer to see if that makes sense, but. I'm sending from my phone at the moment.

[john crookes]

here are all 4 images from this post side by side

I will not say the order but would like to know which one is prefere4d

Thanks

Johni

[Jim Poor]

I hope you're not getting offended John. Color is so subjective I doubt anyone will agree much of the time.

From top left, numbering clockwise, my choices would be 1,2,4,3 in that order from favorite to least favorite.

Take the duck from 1 and put it in the water from 2 and I think that would be near perfect to my taste.

[john crookes]

Nope not offended at all on the contrary it is a nice little experiment for my own needs to see what is prefered and not what I find pleasing

Thanks for all of the input and I will reveil the order a bit later

John