To this old waterfowler a flight of pins is one of the bird world's most magical of sights, exceeded only perhaps by a flight of brant. Sometimes, when they set to land, their wings get so deeply cupped they look like they are hanging in the wind on two little parachutes. This was a nice sunny day out on Boundary Bay, with flights of both passing constantly as I waded out on the dropping tide. I toyed in PP with more intensity of colour but eventually settled here after playing with some exotic colour warps in curves ( which can actually be quite artistically stunning, albeit pretty far from reality). I cropped out the front and back birds of the passing flock. I look forward to any comments or advice. 7DII; EF100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM +1.4x III @ 560mm;ISO 500;f/8;1/1600;
That's quite a flock! Nicely captured, too. Do I see an American Wigeon hiding in the group? (Practicing my duck ID, which is so pathetic.)
Colors look good to me. If it were me, I'd crop out the distant land to leave an artistically compelling image. I'd probably even clone out the ones that are cut by or touching the frame edges right and left.
You're right Dianne, there's a widgeon hen and two drakes in the flock. Thank you so much for the tips---they are simple and basic yet make such a lovely difference.
Bob, the repost looks wonderful! You've managed to get a lot of ducks in focus. The only thing I might consider is toning down some of the brighter OOF ducks heads.
Glennie I tried your suggestion with the Aperture burn brush but don't like the results. I'm on the verge of knuckling down and learning Photoshop though and I guess that's one of the masking tricks I read about so often that will allow me to create such refinements.
Thanks for ploughing new ground. I've been wondering about posting images of largish groups of birds. You're getting good ideas from Glennie and Diane, and I have little to add. There's something almost organic about this group and the commenters' advice results in nudges up against the comfort zone of change. I see it here and your accepting response to it. TFS.
Pintail flight
To this old waterfowler a flight of pins is one of the bird world's most magical of sights, exceeded only perhaps by a flight of brant. Sometimes, when they set to land, their wings get so deeply cupped they look like they are hanging in the wind on two little parachutes. This was a nice sunny day out on Boundary Bay, with flights of both passing constantly as I waded out on the dropping tide. I toyed in PP with more intensity of colour but eventually settled here after playing with some exotic colour warps in curves ( which can actually be quite artistically stunning, albeit pretty far from reality). I cropped out the front and back birds of the passing flock. I look forward to any comments or advice. 7DII; EF100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM +1.4x III @ 560mm;ISO 500;f/8;1/1600;
