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Thread: American Widgeon

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    Default American Widgeon

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    Hi - The shot was taken on the Deschutes near Bend, Oregon. The light had gone, and I was packing up to leave when this guy came careening in. I know the bird is small in the image but I like the reflection as well as the wake behind the bird, which carries on to the right almost as much again as is in the image. Obviously cropped as a pano for the sake of the wake. I had to do a lot of work - the bird's head was very dark and I had to lighten it quite a bit as well as darken the background which otherwise is a coppery color in front of the bird and steel blue behind. My PS skills were stretched w/ this one. Comments about the technical aspects as well as the composition are much appreciated. Thanks gt

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    BPN Member dankearl's Avatar
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    Gareth, A nice artsy image and very attractive.
    I think your PP skills worked well, but think this is probably a better post for OOTB.
    The bird is also going away from you.
    Dan Kearl

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    Super Moderator arash_hazeghi's Avatar
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    it looks cool but at the same time it shows heavy manipulation and a bit unnatural for my personal taste. I think it is best suited for OTB forum so you can get better feedback regarding artistic/creative processing.
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    Super Moderator Daniel Cadieux's Avatar
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    I like the concept of the image, and the processing looks OK to me. The head angled away and in the shade is unfortunate...this would have awesome with a better HA and hitting the sun. Good choice of crop, it works well with the trailing water. I've had this type "blacklit" effect many times before and does not look un-natural to me...just a very cool effect that I like.

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    Lifetime Member Marina Scarr's Avatar
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    I really like what you were going for here. The pano crop works well and I like the water trail behind the bird and the black effect. I can see enough of the head and beak that even at this angle the capture works for me. Your image needs a little bit of CW rotation. The way to check for this is to make sure your subject lines up with its reflection. In this case, I used the wigeon's foot. Well seen on this one. It's nice to see something unique.
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    Thanks for the comments everyone. Appreciate it. gt

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    Macro and Flora Moderator Jonathan Ashton's Avatar
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    I really like this Gareth, i suspect there are some people on this site who could really help in regard to getting the maximum out of this image, I would love to have a go but I bet there are many with greater skills than I have - what do you think?

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    I like this too, Gareth. I think it's artistic and dramatic and it's always refreshing to see a unique take on things. Yes, it would have been more powerful if the bird were angled more towards us. But still, neat light, trail in the water, and spotlight effect.

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