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Thread: Theme February Portrait "Jocotoco - Feared by Nightcrawlers Everywhere"

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    Default Theme February Portrait "Jocotoco - Feared by Nightcrawlers Everywhere"

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    Hello,
    This is my first attempt at a post on BPN. re: February theme - Portraits.
    Coming back from a birding trip to Southern Ecuador, I had dozens of the typical very nice pictures of an endemic target species - Jocotoco Antpitta (a cute papaya on legs as my wife remarked).
    I tried something a little different to see if I could coax some emotional response for this bird that has a lot of "nice" pictures already. The result is this rather tongue-in-cheek: "Jocotoco - Feared by Nightcrawlers Everywhere"
    I'd like some feedback (be kind to the newbie) on these sort of things.
    1. I could have cloned out the blown out overexposures of the sun glinting off the worm, but I think it elicits some more "slimy" of the worm? Question: do you recommend editing for a more technically good picture, or do you sometimes leave in "mistakes"?
    2. Does anyone else get any emotional reaction to this - a bit of a chuckle perhaps, or am I just trying too hard?
    Anyway, I hope you enjoy this.
    Details I think I'm supposed to provide:
    Date: Oct 29, 2018
    Location: Southern Ecuador, Tapichalaca Reserve
    Circumstances: Feeding station along a lodge trail
    Equipment: Canon 80D, 100-400L ii at 248mm
    EXIF: 1/200 f/5.6 ISO 1250
    Cropped and exposure adjustments in Lightroom.
    Last edited by Arthur Morris; 02-09-2019 at 05:30 AM.

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    Super Moderator arash_hazeghi's Avatar
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    Welcome to BPN

    This image is severely underexposed and doesn’t show any details. You need to expose for the subject and then everything else falls where is should. As is it doesn’t work for me
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    Super Moderator Daniel Cadieux's Avatar
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    Hey Steve, welcome to BPN!! I suppose there is no accounting for taste when it comes to bird diet. I get what you were going for, but I agree I'd raise the exposure up (while still keeping it a bit on the dark and mysterious side). Having those red eyes more visible would enhance that feel. I love the "down-the-barrel" look and the...umm...juicy worms. More room all around you be beneficial as well as the subject is rather tight in the frame.

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    Anyone who has spent time looking for antpittas in the dense understory of the tropical forests can appreciate this photo. These guys live in the darkest and shadiest parts of the forest. The only time people see them in the open is when the tame birds that are being fed come to the feeding stations. I really like what you went for here. I do think you should lift the exposure just a touch and as Dan mentioned to give a bit more of the intense red eyes. Super cool pic and kudos for trying something different. Welcome aboard and really looking forward to more of your shots.

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    Publisher Arthur Morris's Avatar
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    Yes to way too dark. Was the subject being fed?

    with love, artie
    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.

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    Thanks for the comments everyone.
    Looking at where I posted this, it didn't fit the description of the February challenge looking for details and normal exposures. I should have put more disclaimers in the description that I was cropping this tight and making it darker intentionally to create an image counter to how this bird is normally perceived. I'll spend some time in photoshop to be selective about bringing up the exposure in the eyes to get more of the red to come through as Dan and Isaac suggested but won't repost.
    I've just been messing about with Lightroom for cropping, exposure, and sharpening. I'm going to bite the bullet and buy Arash and Artie's DPP Raw Conversion Guide. If anyone is interested in seeing if I improve, I can post some other photo with the "messing about with Lightroom" process compared to using the guide.


    Artie,
    Yes, the lodge guide was feeding the nightcrawler pieces at the feeding station that I mentioned in the post. I believe that the conservation efforts for this bird discourage groups going to the place they frequent without a lodge staff person. Thankfully it came in twice as one of the elderly members of the tour was not yet to the feeding station before it had left the first time. This was my first time on a birding tour. The birds were numerous but the photo opportunities were short-lived.

    Thanks again everyone.
    Last edited by Arthur Morris; 02-08-2019 at 07:06 AM.

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    Publisher Arthur Morris's Avatar
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    Thanks Steve. If a bird is attracted with food, water, or audio, we ask that you state that when posting. You can grab the DPP 4 RAW Conversion Guide here.

    Posted here is an image of a Chestnut-crowned Antpitta made in similar conditions; there is no need to post such images dark as our eyes can see a lot better and digital capture is amazing. BTW, no flash ...

    with love, arite
    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.

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    Thanks Artie, and that Chestnut is almost glowing - beautiful.

    DPP 4 RAW guide on order. For comparison, this is a picture trying for a nice exposure using Lightroom. I'll try it again when I get the DPP guide.
    f 5.6, 1/200, ISO 1250, 248mm
    Same location as original post - a feeding station being feed by the lodge guide.
    Attachment 179948
    Last edited by Arthur Morris; 02-09-2019 at 05:27 AM.

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    Hey Artie, how come we have never seen many images from your Peru trip? Would love to see more of them.

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    Publisher Arthur Morris's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Isaac Grant View Post
    Hey Artie, how come we have never seen many images from your Peru trip? Would love to see more of them.
    Don't know :) I was not very active on BPN then and I was away for three whole months ...

    with love, artie

    ps: this one is from Ecuador.
    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.

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    Publisher Arthur Morris's Avatar
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    While the repost is much better than the image in Pane #1 in terms of brightness, there are many problems:

    1- Shooting angle much too steep.
    2- Distracting BKGR.
    3- Extremely awkward composition.
    4- Still too dark.

    Sitting on the ground and using a much higher ISO to get some data in the rightmost histogram would have helped a lot.

    with love and thanks for your purchase, artie
    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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