A Couple of Cranes on an Overcast Day / Grus canadensis

[Jim Keener]

I was hoping for snow flurries at Bernardo this afternoon and drove to the Bernardo Wildlife Area to practice photographing birds in falling snow. My model for that is the Red-crowned Crane winter photographs. No snow. Overcast sky, but with an opening in the west that made me think I might get the sun popping under the clouds just at sunset. The clouds beat the sun to the horizon.

The image is dark, and there is a big crop. I worked on noise. Is this one past saving?



1DX
500/4
tripod/gimbal


manual mode, 1/2000, f4, ISO auto (3200), EV +1.3 stop


center AF point expand, AI Servo


LR: adjust clarity, vibrance, shadows, all tone curve, increased red, yellow, blue saturation


PS: smart sharpened, Dfine layer mask NR



ORIGINAL

[Diane Miller]

Not sure if you meant the crop to be the final image or if its just to show the quality. I think you could have a very nice image from the original with a little less crop, including the two overlapping bids, or maybe all three. But the bird on the left is uncomfortably close to the edge. Quite a bit to play with there, with subtle but very nice colors.

Looks like very nice sharpness and detail on the two birds -- that camera and lens are heavy but so worth it!

I'd love to see the progression on this image -- I think it's well worth some work. Or play, depending on your point of view.

The purists will object to overlapping birds, and the face of the near one has some competition from the primaries of the other one, but I don't think every image has to conform to a set of rules. You have other nice things going for this one!

[Jim Keener]

Thanks, Diane. I hope to soon learn to play more before submitting an image. When I began reading your comments, I felt my feet move to dig in to the "no change" position. For some reason that hasn't been productive for me in the past. And then I began to think about what you wrote. A change in the crop will make a big improvement. Part of the story here for me is the overlapping. The third bird could add to another iteration of this capture. That wing under the second bird's neck bothers me. But I'm not nearly good enough with PS to take it out. Your comment about the head and the primaries is well taken. This image, and therefore the story, would improve significantly if the trailing bird's head were forward of the lead bird's wing and lower. IMHO.

I looked back over the list of settings and changes I made. Starting at the top, the lines starting with "manual" and "center", I largely got from Artie. Some of the third line from Glennie, and the whole of the last line from you. Hmm. My best work is derivative! And most of those things are becoming habit. I'm very grateful.

[Glennie Passier]

Jim, I like the image as posted, but I like your original image better. It shows a sense of place and beautiful, soft colours. This is what tells the story for me. I might have a look at a CCW rotation and crop the very leading bird out (the ones with his legs only in the frame) and maybe a bit off the bottom. Make a few copies of the original and play with the cropping. As Diane has mentioned...the third bird is close to the edge. The overlapping wings don't bother me at all.

You've got a wonderful image happening here. I'd like to see how it ends up.

[Diane Miller]

Everyone learns and practices by deriving ideas and techniques from others. Nobody was born knowing this stuff. And everyone has selected bits and pieces that work for them (at least in their opinion). Some of them even acknowledge it and are open to keep learning. Some slam the door at whatever point they have reached.

It's all about exploration here -- there are points to be taken, but no right answers. The most points are scored here by submitting "ideas"! If those ideas change, good -- if they don't change -- equally good! We all learned something!

Make sense? Maybe not -- Happy Hour just ended here on the Left Coast. Off to make dinner. Keep exploring!!

[Jack Dean III]

Well said Diane.

[Jim Keener]

Okay. Play indeed. I rotated the original for leveling. And. We lost the in-focus bird on the left, at least some of its legs. I took the remainder and created some alternative crops. The one closest to my first post (green) is the one of these that I prefer. I have other images of two birds flying together where there is no overlap, that for a standard photograph work better than this one, I think. Anyway. Please let me know your thoughts. I understand that it's likely I've overlooked something obvious.

I took the original into Illustrator, created the crop ideas on different levels, and exported to PS for modifying the image file for uploading.

If you have an interest in reading about this afternoon at Bernardo, I've created a blog entry with photographs at jimkeener.photography/bernardo.

[Diane Miller]

OK -- very nice way to show crop options. I'll often explore several crops with virtual copies in Lightroom.

I have to apologize for not having noticed your web site before -- it is wonderful! And I'm becoming an admirer of your sometimes-unconventional crops.

I'd go with the yellow if it were my image but it isn't it's yours and go with what speaks to you!!

Just got interrupted -- back in a while.

[Diane Miller]

OK -- back for a minute, at least. Just wanted to add, I can appreciate your original crop and would never say it "isn't right" or "could be improved" because I can see what you have in mind, and I can appreciate it. Sometimes people make crops that just don't work, often because of trying to conform to some "rule" or other -- just to one while being unaware of others. (I would never call them rules -- I think perceptual guidelines is more accurate.) That's not the case with this image.

I might also try a crop that included the third crane. You'd need to expand canvas quite a bit and fill it before rotating, but that might work. Always a trick to keep in mind, anyway.

Four for the price of one helps make up for some of the deleted images.

[Glennie Passier]

This image is so worth the playing Jim. I liked the different crops you have, but I still would do something a little different. I've done a "edit-transform-distort" and dragged a few corners around. I'm still not certain about the trailing bird...or the darker, thin band through the middle.

WDYT?

[Frank McKernan]

I would go for the yellow crop Jim but I am a firm believer that its your picture and in the end you have to go with what you are happy with.
Cheers Frank.

[Jim Keener]

Well, folks, you each have good ideas and suggestions. And, Glennie, my special thanks for your repost. That's above and beyond. There is no way to lose with either crop. And one of the things I like is that this frame has so many possibilities. I must admit that I have hundreds of images, hundreds, quite similar to this one. What made this one stand out for me is the two birds in the center, and their interaction. But. With my ever so slightly more educated eye (Thanks, Diane.), my gut almost hurts now from urging the nearer bird forward and down some.

I like this image for a number of reasons, but I think that part of the change brought about by learning is an increasing discernment. It's worth learning from, but I think that's it. I'm going to go back and work the smaller crops. Frank, I like that yellow one, too.

I'm chomping at the bit to get back to Bernardo. Shooting the birds there is quite different from shooting at the BdA. The most significant difference is that I shoot from ground level. Much more intimate. We're experiencing El Nino rains, and the dirt roads at Bernardo make going there difficult. Maybe Saturday. Anyway, back to work on this one. Thanks all.

[Jim Keener]

These are quite different photographs. I hadn't known that cropping was so critical an element. But now it's seems to be one of those things that should be intuitively obvious to the most casual observer.

Frank, the first is one you said you liked. I like it much more than I had expected.



And a modified crop of the original image:

[Diane Miller]

Yes - the little bit of extra breathing room is very good here -- to me. This one is really growing on me. So many choices... I find a nice glass of wine helps in the decision. The variety, of course, depends on the subject matter. There are Sauvignon Blanc images, and Pinot Noir images, and those that demand a Cabernet that you can cut with a knife and eat with a fork.

As a friend says -- I limit myself to one glass.... I just keep refilling it.

The music is important, too. Some require Tallis' Spem in Alium (King's College Choir, Cambridge, David Wilcocks, is the definitive recording) and others do better with anything from New Age on down -- whatever your passion. Your auditory perception is closely linked to the visual circuitry.

[Jim Keener]

I fully understand that music selection is part of the learning process. You began the list with one of my favorites. I'm listening to it now. I sometimes do see in music.

There is a place in the high Sierra, the Big Horn Plateau, that demands Mozart. And it's no accident that impressionists are complemented by Debussy.

[Diane Miller]

Absolutely! We could make a long list... Hmmm -- maybe in addition to the shooting specs and PP steps, we should add the music that provided an influence.

On a local photo group forum I once posted an egret in flight, just approaching the nest with wings spread in a lovely way and I said, "Suggested pairing: your favorite Sauvignon Blanc and Canon in D."