Long Tailed Duck Pair - Barnegat Jetty

[Ian Cassell]

Here's another try with my Long Tailed Ducks from last week

Canon 7D
Canon EF 400mm f/5.6L HH
1/1250 f/8 ISO 800

Color Efex Pro 4
CS6
NR with Noiseware Pro

[Jeff Cashdollar]

Ian, A few questions first my friend?

Are the whites hot,..did you clip?

What type of light here?

What are you adding/changing with the color Efex software?

I love what you are trying to do and getting two in focus takes strong field technique. Just curious are you going for a black & white look,..or saturating key colors,..very original feel and texture. Capture angle is still steep do you have a tripod to get lower or wet?

[Ian Cassell]

Hi, Jeff. From what I can tell, my whites are not clipped (max is at about 240). The light was dark even-grey, heavily overcast (rain on-and-off). In Color Efex, I just put control points on the birds to bring out a bit of feather detail and contrast (detail extractor ~30).

From this location it is impossible to get lower without being in a boat. I was down on my belly to shoot this. The jetty goes out from Barnegat Light and you are standing on large stones with immediate drop-off into the inlet. (I should have taken some images of the jetty itself. Here's a link to some images on Artie's blog). I really wasn't trying for any special 'look'. The image is actually a pretty good representation of the true color of the birds on the water.

[Marina Scarr]

I think this image looks pretty good, Ian, when you consider the obstacles presented. Whites looks good, and I like seeing both birds in the frame. Know you couldn't get any lower from this spot. You have a fine result.