SonyA700~Sony70-400G@400mm~ISO200~F7.1~1/1000sec~manual exposure~9-27-2009~Brays Bayou~Houston, Texas (settings for bird image only)
CS4/Topaz Adjust3(small detail preset)/Topaz Clean2
Occasionally Great Blue Herons sun themselves by assuming the wing position shown here, although I see yellow- crowned night herons doing the same thing much more often. Obviously this only happens in direct sunlight, pretty much the worst conditions for bird photography IMO, and the original background showed why. Therefore, I selected the heron by masking, placed a new sky with landscape in the background from another image, selected a a log in water from another yet another image, put the bird on it, burned a few foot shadows onto the log, then made up a reflection of the feet.
comments and critique welcomed. regards~Bill
09-30-2009, 10:39 PM
Dave Phillips
1 Attachment(s)
one of your best Bill.....love the tones. All the subtle hues blend nicely.
I see one teeny tiny aspect that is off.....the log/feet reflection.
Without making a new one I just rotated a piece of yours.
Notice your sig....see how much I rotated to get the reflections at proper
angle and the waterline level.
Really a very minor point!!
nice work sir
09-30-2009, 10:59 PM
Dave Mills
Hi Bill, I like this very much! You did a great job in selecting and applying the backround. As Dave said the log is a minor point in the image. Nice job on the effect also!
10-01-2009, 03:42 AM
denise ippolito
Bill, I love this one! The BG sky is awesome. I think the log was a minor point but made a big difference in the overall image. Very nice composite and well thought out. The pose and HA are great as is the open mouth!! Well done.
10-01-2009, 01:04 PM
Indranil Sircar
This one is really outstanding composition. I love the background sky and the overall tone. Great pp work.
10-01-2009, 04:00 PM
Cindy Cone
Super job on this one, Bill! The background is beautiful, and the heron detail is great. I always love to see this behavior, and it is difficult to get a good exposure when it happens. Great job.
10-01-2009, 06:49 PM
WIlliam Maroldo
Thank You Dave M, Dave P, Denise, Indranil, Cindy! Dave Phillips: good catch on the foot reflection. Now that I think about it I could have used Flaming Pears Flood instead, on a separate layer, then erased everything but the upside down feet on that layer. Regards~Bill
10-01-2009, 08:08 PM
Christopher Miller
Beautiful image, Bill! Lovely BG and pose, and you did a great job combining the images.
