Creation of a Mood

Nikon D200
Sigma 300-800 mm f/5.6 @ 800 mm
ISO 250
1/500 @ f/7.1

This image was captured below the Conowingo dam on Maryland's Susquehana river. Although I went there to photograph eagles, a heavy fog prevailed in the early morning. But when I saw this solitary great blue heron on an island in the river waiting for the fog to lift to fish, I was captivated by the scene. I focused manually, because the heavy rolling fog banks between me and the heron made autofocus impossible. They also precluded any sharp image of the bird, or color saturation. Nevertheless, I think that the rolling fog, the angry waves lapping at the island, and that solitary bird waiting for a chance to fish the waters makes a striking image. What do you think?

Norm Dulak

Norm this image has me a little perplexed and I'm having trouble figuring out why. I love the overall composition. The fog really adds a fantastic touch but it does blur the silhouette of the bird and I think that's what's bothering me. You might try to do a selective focus and tighten the outline of the bird up a bit so the eye goes through all that fog and stops at the bird.

Another thought...have you tried converting this to black and white? It might be a wash but it might be really cool,too. You never can tell till you try!

Julie:

Thanks for the selective focus idea. As for the black and white suggestion, that's what I did here, since there was no color anyway. I used a black and white adjustment layer in Photoshop CS3.

Norm

I wondered...it seemed to still have a bit of a color tone to it so I wasn't sure. I tried to sharpen the heron a bit (tough on a small file size like this - might work better on your original file) and then did a curves and levels adjustment to separate the tones a bit more. I also blurred the BG and blended the spotty parts so they were less distracting. See what you think of this version...

Jules:

That's very interesting. There were so many heavy fog patches between me and the bird that I really didn't think sharpening was possible. But the problem I think is that the heron is now strongly outlined in an unnatural way, and the mood created by the fog and conveyed by the original image is diminished. It's that mood that I found so intriguing. In any event, thanks for all of your suggestions and efforts!

Norm

I love the mood. The horizon needs to be straight though.

Fabs:

I'm very pleased that you enjoy the mood created by this image. As for the horizon, I think that is difficult to gauge due to the fog effects and the irregular shape of the island. What I can say is that the horizon SHOULD be straight for the following reasons. I used a Gitzo G1410 MK2 tripod, on which the bubble level had been precisely centered. I also used a Wimberley Head, and the marks on my Sigma super zoom lens were precisely set for true horizontal. In any event, I appreciate your appreciation of this image!

Norm

I do think you captured the mood, Norm, and I like your original image better. I see the unnatural outlining in Julie's version as well. What I don't care for in your original is the noise (I think?) in the sky, and the whitish spots - not sure what those are? Julie did get those smoothed out and that part of her image is an improvement, I think. Just my opinion. I can see why you were drawn to the scene!

Thanks Anita for your thoughts!

I too wondered about the spots, and what might be considered "noise". But that heavy, rolling fog played tricks with the light, and I don't think that noise is an apt description of what the camera captured. Whatever occurred has generated discussion from some very thoughtful and interested people like you that I find very enjoyable.

Norm

Hi Norm, Not sure if this repost preserves the mood but it works a lot better for me. The crop from the bottom was pretty much mandatory; was surprised that it was not mentioned above.

Artie:

I think you have made a substantial improvement while preserving the mood I tried to capture. It's interesting what simple, appropriate cropping can do for an image. It really focuses the eye on what is truly important in an image. Thanks!

Norm

YAW. Aside from the crop I added lots of black to the blacks with Selective Color, and did Levels and Curves ADJs.

Artie:

A further hearty thanks for your efforts. I'll go back to my Photoshop master file and apply your improvements.

Norm

Good plan. It is all covered in ABP II.

I see you have some excellent input Norm, but I wanted to "play" too.
Definitely agree with the crop, but maybe not quite as dark and I cleaned the bg just a bit
and rotated 1/2 degree.
Also tried a bit more tonal shaping on the rocks, sharpened wave splashes a bit
Very nice image sir

Dave:

Your modifications are interesting and most appreciated. And I'm pleased that my photo has stimulated such interest!

Norm

Well done Dave. Sharpening the waves made a big difference. Your membership support is appreciated as well.