November Theme: Cattle Egret Blur

Hi, I've posted plenty of hummingbird pics here but I wanted to show something different here to prove I can take pictures that aren't at a setup:) and to contribute to this month's theme. I love blurs and decided to make an image that combined slow shutter speed with flash and panning on some cattle egrets that fly up a deeply forested river every morning on Costa Rica's South Pacific Coast.

This was at about 5:30 in the morning so the low light really lent itself to a blur image to begin with. I wanted deep blacks so I positioned myself across from an area of especially dark forest. I also wanted the whites to be nice and bright as I wasn't worried about feather detail. And I did decide to pan on a slight upward swing on purpose to accentuate the flight motion of the birds.

Attachment 83068

Tech: Canon 40D, Canon 300 f2.8 + 1.4 x, f22, 1/10, ISO 100, 550 EX flash at -2, tripod with ballhead and Sidekick, manual metering

Post-processing: Full-frame image, slight tweak of the black and white points to up the contrast but it's not that different from the RAW file

Cheers,
Greg Basco

Beautiful image Greg! I like the front Garza more than the other. The reflection and lines in the FG really add to the image. I also like the subtle lines in the upper part of the image.

Excellent! May need a little CW. They look like rockets.

Gary.

Beautiful pan-blur, Greg. You have both of the them wings down! The dark bg helps. I also like how you focused on the front egret. Agree with Gary; needs a small cw rot. TFS.

Neat work, I'd go for a pano crop on this pan.

Tim

I am familiar with this one! very nice panning and blur technique.

I'm fine with the orientation of the birds, in fact it looks like they were flying from bottom to top so it makes a lot of sense to me. This is the kind of rich colors that I am used to, dark green and blacks, there's no way a rain forest can yield light colors when inside a trail. Nice separation between the birds.

Hi Greg excellent image, well conceived and executed. The subjects are identifiable and the blur portrays the movement of the birds beautifully.

The capture is great, and its a lovely shot, but I think if you place the birds just a bit more at left it will be even better.

This is flat out gorgeous, Greg! And of course I love that you envisioned the image and then made it happen. That is a skill I am working on and when it works it is definitely exciting. Congrats on this one.

Whoa this is a visually powerful image. I LOVE the greens on black, and the reflections at bottom are too cool:cool:. This image would lend itself well to a pano crop too, not instead of, but as an alternative version of. I'm sure you left the incline on purpose (caused by your "upward swing" no doubt), but it gives me the impression the image needs some CW rotation (as per the others).

Super well done, I love it!

Striking image, Greg.....hard to remove my eyes from it. The color combo is sweet and you the image demonstrates your skill at this type of shot very well. As a mere rookie at pan blurs, I'd like to see it in pano version myself. Great work.

DB

Very creative. The artistic qualities of this just scream "Greg Basco!". Nicely captured. While it is full frame, I could easily see this as a pano crop. Technical execution on this is top notch.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Greg Basco

t I wanted to show something different here to prove I can take pictures that aren't at a setup:) Greg Basco

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Awesome composition and perfect blur Greg. Great job.

PS: For someone like you who mastered multiple flash photography I dont think there is a need to prove :)

Hi, and thanks very much to everyone for your kind comments. I really thought this scene had potential for an image with a lot of graphic design punch, so I'm really happy to read that you all think I pulled it off successfully.

I'm a 2:3 kind of guy generally but I will indeed play around with a pano version, perhaps to offer as a print. That's a good idea.

On the CW rotation, I took a few practice swings with different arcs before the birds started flying upriver, and I liked the slight upward diagonal shots best. So, even though I realize convention would dictate a straight horizon, I think I still like the diagonal flow and implied upward motion that the slightly uneven pan gave. But I did play around with this image in Lightroom yesterday, straightening the horizon just to revisit the idea. I still liked the slanted version better but that's just me. And since it was 5:30 am when I took this, and I hadn't had any coffee yet, I probably was incapable of getting a straight horizon anyway:)

And Sid, thanks very much for your kind words on the multiple flash photography. As everyone here knows well, there's nothing like positive feedback from your photographer peers so I really appreciate that.

Cheers,
Greg Basco

It's your ability to envision creative images in your mind and then make them a reality for your camera that sets you apart as a photographer Greg. Nicely done!