Results 1 to 16 of 16

Thread: Brown Pelicans greeting each other

  1. #1
    Publisher Arthur Morris's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2007
    Location
    Indian Lake Estates, FL
    Posts
    32,557
    Threads
    1,438
    Thank You Posts

    Default Brown Pelicans greeting each other

    Attached Images Attached Images
     
    This image was created on January 15, 2020 at La Jolla, CA. I used the hand held Sony FE 200-600mm f/5.6-6.3 G OSS lens (at 332mm) with the blazingly fast AF King, the Sony Alpha a9 II Mirrorless Digital camera body. ISO 3200. Exposure determined by Zebras: 1/500 sec. at f/7.1 in Manual mode. AWB at 8:12am on a cloudy morning. Zone Continuous/tracking (C) AF worked perfectly here.

    I’ve seen these spectacular greetings dozens of times. And failed dozens of times; why?

    • 1- I did not have enough reach.
    • 2- I had a fixed focal length lens in my hands and could not frame the image properly.
    • 3- The were numerous extraneous gulls, cormorants, and pelicans either in the way or ruining the backgrounds.
    • 4- There were one or more poor head angles.

    With the SONY 2-6 and a bit of luck on my side, I was able to overcome the odds against success. And the lightning-fast initial focusing acquisition of the SONY a9 II did not hurt either …

    To see more San Diego images created with the 2-6, check out the blog post here.

    with love, artie

    Learn about joining me in Homer, AK for Bald Eagles here.

    See the free Eagle Photogrprahy Lessons video here.
    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.










  2. #2
    Forum Participant
    Join Date
    Dec 2016
    Location
    Princeton, NJ
    Posts
    1,643
    Threads
    182
    Thank You Posts

    Default

    Very cool interaction frame Artie. I'm glad you're enjoying your Sony kit -- I've been enjoying reading about it on your blog. Nice HAs from both. Nice exposure. Love the water BG. I don't particularly mind it, but any reason outside of just it'd be a pain to leave the whitewash on the OOF rock? The 200-600 is an awesome range and seems to pair super well with the A9 I and II. TFS

  3. #3
    Lifetime Member gail bisson's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2011
    Location
    Nova Scotia
    Posts
    12,731
    Threads
    910
    Thank You Posts

    Default

    I am not feeling the love for this one!
    The large OOF rock on the left is a real problem for me. The cut-off wing on the RHS and position of the left wing feels very awkward to me.
    Nice and sharp though with both birds having good HA's and being within DOF,
    Gail

  4. Thanks Arthur Morris thanked for this post
  5. #4
    BPN Member Bill Dix's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2009
    Location
    Princeton, NJ
    Posts
    12,487
    Threads
    1,892
    Thank You Posts

    Default

    The greeting and juxtaposition of the birds is wonderful, as is the IQ. The oof rocks are unfortunate; it's too bad you couldn't have taken a few steps to your right. Did you consider a tight crop to eliminate the oof rocks while still keeping the wonderful heads?

  6. #5
    Forum Participant
    Join Date
    Jul 2016
    Location
    Ithaca, NY
    Posts
    10,421
    Threads
    1,708
    Thank You Posts

    Default

    Digging the pose on the right pelican. Wish that rock wasn't there but thats nature for you. Love the soft blue background.

  7. #6
    Publisher Arthur Morris's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2007
    Location
    Indian Lake Estates, FL
    Posts
    32,557
    Threads
    1,438
    Thank You Posts

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Alex Becker View Post
    Very cool interaction frame Artie. I'm glad you're enjoying your Sony kit -- I've been enjoying reading about it on your blog. Nice HAs from both. Nice exposure. Love the water BG. I don't particularly mind it, but any reason outside of just it'd be a pain to leave the whitewash on the OOF rock? The 200-600 is an awesome range and seems to pair super well with the A9 I and II. TFS
    Cleaning all the whitewash would be very unnatural ...

    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.

    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.










  8. #7
    Publisher Arthur Morris's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2007
    Location
    Indian Lake Estates, FL
    Posts
    32,557
    Threads
    1,438
    Thank You Posts

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Bill Dix View Post
    The greeting and juxtaposition of the birds is wonderful, as is the IQ. The oof rocks are unfortunate; it's too bad you couldn't have taken a few steps to your right. Did you consider a tight crop to eliminate the oof rocks while still keeping the wonderful heads?
    I am glad that they have the cliffs to sit on :). I do not like cropping so tightly.

    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.

    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.










  9. #8
    Avian Moderator Randy Stout's Avatar
    Join Date
    Feb 2008
    Location
    SW Michigan
    Posts
    14,127
    Threads
    821
    Thank You Posts

    Default

    Attached Images Attached Images
     
    Artie:

    I found the rocks in the foreground a bit bothersome as well. I adjusted the luminosity and contrast to try and make them less prominent. There were some subtle halos along the rock edges on the original , that I didn't remove, but mainly present this to see if folks feel that this version makes the rocks 'recede' a bit visually.

    Cheers

    Randy
    MY BPN ALBUMS

    "Tact is the art of making a point without making an enemy" Sir Isaac Newton

  10. Thanks Arthur Morris thanked for this post
  11. #9
    Publisher Arthur Morris's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2007
    Location
    Indian Lake Estates, FL
    Posts
    32,557
    Threads
    1,438
    Thank You Posts

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Bill Dix View Post
    The greeting and juxtaposition of the birds is wonderful, as is the IQ. The oof rocks are unfortunate; it's too bad you couldn't have taken a few steps to your right. Did you consider a tight crop to eliminate the oof rocks while still keeping the wonderful heads?
    Furthermore, I took two large and quick steps to my right to parallel the distended bill pouches. Had I moved further right, I would have been shooting the bird on our right from behind and the two birds would have been on different planes.

    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.

    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.










  12. #10
    Forum Participant
    Join Date
    Feb 2018
    Location
    San Mateo, CA
    Posts
    3,643
    Threads
    398
    Thank You Posts

    Default

    Excellent color, clarity, and sharpness. I might be tempted to make this into a tighter cropped double headshot to lose the rock and highlight the facial expressions.

  13. #11
    BPN Member dankearl's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2011
    Location
    Portland, Oregon
    Posts
    8,833
    Threads
    1,358
    Thank You Posts

    Default

    I am also on the Lose the Rock bandwagon but your explanation is good and I can see from
    a DOF and angle perspective, why you shot where you did.
    Still to one of your best...
    Dan Kearl

  14. #12
    Publisher Arthur Morris's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2007
    Location
    Indian Lake Estates, FL
    Posts
    32,557
    Threads
    1,438
    Thank You Posts

    Default

    Attached Images Attached Images
     
    Thanks, Randy et. al. By popular demand ...
    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.

    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.










  15. #13
    BPN Member Bill Dix's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2009
    Location
    Princeton, NJ
    Posts
    12,487
    Threads
    1,892
    Thank You Posts

    Default

    I like it.

  16. #14
    BPN Member dankearl's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2011
    Location
    Portland, Oregon
    Posts
    8,833
    Threads
    1,358
    Thank You Posts

    Default

    Now we're talking... Nice.
    Dan Kearl

  17. #15
    Super Moderator arash_hazeghi's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2008
    Location
    San Francisco, California, United States
    Posts
    18,553
    Threads
    1,320
    Thank You Posts

    Default

    I really like the repost, but the IQ is no longer great after the tight crop...not much fine details. signature colors

    TFS
    New! Sony Capture One Pro Guide 2022
    https://arihazeghiphotography.com/Gu.../Sony_C1P.html


    ------------------------------------------------
    Visit my blog
    http://www.arihazeghiphotography.com/blog

  18. #16
    Publisher Arthur Morris's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2007
    Location
    Indian Lake Estates, FL
    Posts
    32,557
    Threads
    1,438
    Thank You Posts

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by arash_hazeghi View Post
    I really like the repost, but the IQ is no longer great after the tight crop...not much fine details. signature colors

    TFS
    Thanks Arash. That is why I do not like big crops :)

    with love, artiee
    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.










Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •  
Web Analytics