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Thread: bufflehead # 3

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    Default bufflehead # 3

    man these guys are bright... I was belly down at a local pond when this guy came in. I waited as he watched me. He was attracted by the shutter noise as I was taking a few shots. When really close (beyond focusing range), it got spooked and flew off. This image was taken as it was coming towards me. light was bright... hope you like it.

    Name:  bufflehead-3.jpg
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    comments and suggestions welcome

    7D, 700mm @ f/8, 1/4000, ISO 400

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    Wow, Enrique, I love this. I struggled with these guys at Bosque in December and didn't come away with a single one I was happy with (I either burnt out the whites or underexposed the head). You really picked up that irridescence here.

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    Wow, what a beautiful bird! Never seen one of these before. I can see that you've battled with the whites but the colors are beautiful. It might be worthwhile to play with highlights and mid tones in pp to try and bring in a little bit of contrast in the whites, but to me it's beautiful as is. Beautiful BG and eye contact! Well done!

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    Quote Originally Posted by Tobie Schalkwyk View Post
    Wow, what a beautiful bird! Never seen one of these before. I can see that you've battled with the whites but the colors are beautiful. It might be worthwhile to play with highlights and mid tones in pp to try and bring in a little bit of contrast in the whites, but to me it's beautiful as is. Beautiful BG and eye contact! Well done!
    yeah, you are tight Tobie. I reprocessed this image from RAW + added a color balance layer (more blue)... what you think?

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    Quote Originally Posted by Enrique Patino View Post
    I reprocessed this image from RAW + added a color balance layer (more blue)... what you think?
    You definitely have more definition in the white parts now (I can hear Rachel saying 'You have a blue cast...' ). Just be careful of the blue tint as on the back of its head. It was there in the OP too, but not so prominent.

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    Excellent image of a spekky duck! Well exposed whites and nice details. The reflection is a bouns!

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    Simply gorgeous, love the iridescent colors! The RP is close, just be careful of the "glowing greys" occurring on the body beneath the head and forward of the wing. Perhaps local brush work to adjust shadows/highlights? Also, personal preference-I'd go extreme pano and remove most of the reflection-it's blurry to the point of distraction. Is there any room above? Another locally skittish species I'd have to borrow from NASA's inventory to capture like this.

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    Wow the colours you have on the head are great. I think the blue tint at the back of the head is CA which you may be able to adjust on your RAW file.

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    Attached Images Attached Images
     
    Blue cast..yes, i added blue in a CA layer, but removed it from the white areas using a saturation layer... but I posted the wrong one... that is what happens when I do things late at night... thanks for your input
    Last edited by Enrique Patino; 03-14-2014 at 09:49 AM. Reason: made a mess

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    Really nice work Enrique on this tough little guy to expose properly! Nice low angle, eye contact and color capture. The background is pleasing as well.

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    Man o man, I don't think I've ever seen a Buffie image that shows the head colors better than this.

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    Love the pose and colors. Well done, Enrique.

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    Attached Images Attached Images
     
    2nd repost is better but I believe that this already outstanding image could be improved significantly. It is too bright and too saturated. And it absolutely needs some CCW rotation--check out the angle of the eye highlight etched across the reflection of the head....

    I did lots to come up with this repost--details upon request :).
    BIRDS AS ART Blog: great info and lessons, lots of images with our legendary BAA educational Captions; we will not sell you junk. 30+ years of long lens experience/e-mail with gear questions.

    BIRDS AS ART Online Store: we will not sell you junk. 35 years of long lens experience. Please e-mail with gear questions.

    Check out the new SONY e-Guide and videos that I did with Patrick Sparkman here. Ten percent discount for BPN members,

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    ps: In retrospect, I may have reduced the contrast a bit too much and I missed a bit in the upper right when I filled in the canvas after rotation...
    BIRDS AS ART Blog: great info and lessons, lots of images with our legendary BAA educational Captions; we will not sell you junk. 30+ years of long lens experience/e-mail with gear questions.

    BIRDS AS ART Online Store: we will not sell you junk. 35 years of long lens experience. Please e-mail with gear questions.

    Check out the new SONY e-Guide and videos that I did with Patrick Sparkman here. Ten percent discount for BPN members,

    E-mail me at samandmayasgrandpa@att.net.










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    Beautiful and colorful image.

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    Thanks for your input. Will follow up when I get back from my trip



    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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    Artie, I would very much like to know the details if you have time, or when you have time. Thanks!

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