Zimanga Hammerkop-Not as boring as some would like it to be...
Hello everyone!
I have to thank those of you who were so kind to comment or simply view my previous Zimanga shot, I feel I haven't been around enough (in Avian) and yet you gave me so much of your time-I truly appreciate it.
I am trying to prove a point with this new image, and that is - shooting from an underground hide does not neccessarily mean all images will share the same BG or similar features. Depending on the species one encounters, certain behaviour will occur that places the particular subject in a certain position. This allows you - the photographer - to compose in such a way that you end up with a variety of shots which are neither boring nor repetitive.
Here is one example of a Hammerkop coming to drink, kindly let me have your comments and critique on this. No rotation, no crop, no cloning, a little noise due to high ISO, some burning but no dodging, basic adjustments in LR and then CS6 for sharpening. I looked for colour casts but found none, please let me know if you can think of another way of improving this image.
Hi Gabriela, the HA and composition illustrate the name of this bird perfectly. The BKG separates the subject well an you have captured some very nice detail too, excellent work.
BTW, some old 'dagga boys' and a few elephants have come up to graze tonight!!
TFS
Steve
Post Production: It’s ALL about what you do with the tools and not, which brand of tool you use.
Gabriela wish there was some way I could suggest to improve this but afraid I can't find anything ,think the quality is excellent and the water mark on the bill adds some more interest. Been looking at your iso settings on this and other posts you have made ,tiny bit of noise that you pointed out that I find hard to see and colour casts also.
Pleasure to view.
Regards Keith.
Hi Gabriela, I agree with Keith and Steve, your work is very good, no problems for me. The tiny amount of noise in the background can be easily fixed if it bothers you. Cheers, Ian
I love this image! Technically strong, great framing, and it really shows, without a single distraction, the unique profile of this bird. I am glad you shared it.
I love hammerkop's.
This is a beautiful image and one to be very proud of.
The water line on the bill is really special as is the light.
You have a great IQ with superb detail as well. Love the sun reflection in the eye.
The best part of this image is how well you have shown why they are called " hammer heads". I can picture someone laying a hammer down over the neck and head on the hard copy picture and have the perfect outline of the hammer.
Well done Gabriella,
Gail
Nice close up of this unique and beautiful bird Gabriella. Good profile showing off its name and the lighting and feather detail are very nice. Keep em coming.
Your last post was something, went back to is quite a few times:)
Gabriela. Even the thumbnail caught my attention and when I opened the thread I liked a lot what I saw. Beautiful portrait of this amazing bird. Very nice IQ , detail and background. As mentioned, we can see clearly where the name comes from. Congratulations.
(I have stacks of unpleasant memories of these birds from when I still had a fish pond - from the time I see it touching down till the time I reach the door to chase it away, up to 6 smallish kois would be in its tummy!)
Hi Gaby, excellent light and IQ, and you certainly captured the perfect pose to show the shape of the head so aptly named. Love the water line on the bill, and what a killer BG. That place sounds great.
Nothing much to add. I'm a fan of head portraits and this one ticks all my boxes - from the light quality, to composition, to techs and processing. Very nicely done.
Ladies and Gentlemen - you have been more than kind with your comments and crits and I thank you from the heart! Very encouraging and I shall post some more if that's all right with you. I would be delighted to join you at Zimanga when you decide to come and try it out, just let me know
Andreas - we must take you there - then we'll sit by the computers at home and play, cannot wait!
Once again thank you all for taking the time to view, I truly appreciate it!
Oh Rachel, you must have had a fantastic trip! Thinking of you, travel safe, chat very soon! Cannot wait to see your images, you must have thousands of frames
Thank you for keeping in touch, I really appreciate you taking the time
Overall, this is a wonderful portrait in my opinion. I cannot see noise at this level, but you mention it? I suggest, have a read of this blog entry I wrote a while back about shooting to the right and what it does to the overall image quality. That is; improve noise performance, which I suspect on a D3s would be a no issue at that ISO. Forgive me if you know the technique already. My first thing is always checking histogram to ensure I push it as far right as possible with minimal (if any) clipping of white tones. In my very limited experience, I find the technique works wonders, plus you're maximizing the amount of good data captured by the sensor. Also, as far as I know, the review image (on which the camera bases the histogram), is a jpeg, not the actual RAW file you had captured. Often, I find small blinkies or what appear as hot areas, are totally good (that is not blown) once I open the RAW file in Lightroom or ACR.
Thank you so much Akos, for your reply and also for the link - very informative - read it with much interest and will try to experiment a bit more in the Kruger Park next week (hopefully some sightings). Also planning to use manual exposure more often. I tried shooting to the right while in the Kalahari earlier this year but due to the lack of time (sometimes things happened a bit too fast) I realised I wasn't checking the histogram and clipped the whites ever so often.
I am glad you did not see too much noise in this image, I tried my very best to get rid of it, looks like I managed to do so?
I do understand what you mean by "blinkies" - confusing indeed and I panicked at first, but since my eyes are not so good anymore I have learnt to rely on my "gut feeling" - it takes too long to put my readers on and check the histogram, I just shoot at various settings and hope to find some decent images when I get home, love the gamble, sometimes it does pay off...
Thank you again for taking the time to view, and for advice - learning something every day and I love to experiment, really appreciate it!
Zimanga Hammerkop-Not as boring as some would like it to be...
, some burning but no dodging, basic adjustments in LR and then CS6 for sharpening. I looked for colour casts but found none, please let me know if you can think of another way of improving this image.
Reply With Quote
, cannot wait!
