I was at the St. Augustine's rookery and I was struggling with subject-background separation and perch quality. I think with this one works with a square crop. Shot at 360mm, f/7.1, 1/800, ISO 800. I applied some field blur to the background to improve the subject separation. What do you think?
I love this one Adhika! Even though it is a very busy scene, the leaves on the tree are all in focus and make a great framing around the bird while the OOF BG works well with it too. It's like you are looking through one picture to see the rest of the surroundings behind it. Hard to put into words but there is great depth to the image. Thanks for sharing!
Very nice!! Great pose, wonderful sharpness and very nice separation from the BG. The tree is in focus but doesn't compete with the bird. Looking at the histogram, I wonder if the whites (Highlights) have been pulled down a bit more than needed. Or possibly it's more like midtones (Exposure). The not-quite-whites have a bit more gray than maybe they should, but I'm on a laptop so can't be sure.
I think the crop works well here, and the blur is very effective.
The egrets in the south have such nice trees!
Hope to see more from there -- we had just gotten into the habit of a spring trip through the south but the weather has shot us down the last couple of years. (We travel by small plane whenever possible.) I'm really missing the photography down there.
Warren & Diane, thank you! I shot a lot at the rookery but it's extremely hard to find a good perch and clean background (or foreground). There is always some offending twigs that I wish can be cleaned up if my eyes emit some laser.
Diane, good observations. I was too heavy handed with the brush on the whites. Here is a correction. Let me know what y'all think.
PS. Diane, one of these days if I have the time to get my biannual flight review done, I would love to ask you for a flight plan. It's been a while since I hop on the left seat. It would be nice to get back on it.
Adhika, This is lovely. You have done well! The perch is big...but nice. I especially like the way it curves over at the top, framing the bird. If this were mine, I would consider taming the brighter greenery in the BG, particularly around the tail feathers. I may also see what it looks like if you took out that brighter OOF branch in the middle, LHS....and maybe even the smaller big one, if this is within your ethics.
Glennie - what OOF branch? LOL. Thanks for that suggestion. Very good one. I was not quite bothered by the branch before but removing it does improve the image. I did what I can (before running into any tonality weirdness) to the darker branch on the top using curves and a very soft brush.
Diane - Back in Minnesota, I used to do 152 for fun and 172 for point-to-point travel. I haven't flown since I moved to LA. Every time that hobbs spin while waiting for clearance, I think about the next lens I could purchase.
Adhika, was this a recent pic? If it was from that weekend, I know the winds were blowing mightily and would also cause lots of problems with composing. So job well done!! I really like the pic with the spread of the plumage and the breeding green and yellow of the face. Do you more photos of this bird, maybe up-close?
AP, this was just last Friday (4/15) morning. The winds were still not as crazy and the overcast sky actually helps a lot with this image. I am still looking through thousands of files made last weekend but I don't think I have anything closer for this bird. I do have a photos of some chicks that I am going to share next, though! :D
Were you by any chance at the Alligator Farm as well? I'll be so mad if you were there and I didn't get to say Hi.
No, no, I stayed home that weekend due to wind forecasts (got worse on Sat/Sun). But if you ever feel like driving south from St. Augustine (were you only there for a vacation visit?) for a visit to Titusville, I can give you a guided tour of the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, Canaveral National Seashore, etc. Lots of good opportunities ....
Well, that invite is to everyone else here in ETL as well .....
AP - yeah I was in Savannah for a conference until Thursday and then headed to StAug for the weekend. I was super excited with StAug but it was really hard to get any clean composition. There were always twigs and branches that cut through my birds! That said, I envy the birding opportunities in your side of the country, though. It was my first time with the terns in Tybee Island and I heard there are good opportunities at the Hugenot memorial park East of Jacksonville. After my first encounter with the terns, they are officially the most beautiful shore birds on my list! Haha. Ruddy turnstone next and then the oystercatchers and the skimmers!
I haven't been in that side of the country that often. But this is my second time in a row. First trip to Orlando & StAug was January 2015 and I had not the equipment to shoot birds yet! So, I would love to take you on the offers the next time I come visit. Maybe we could make an ETL get together!
Great Egret
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