Flock of Pigeons

[Paul Burdett]

OK...thought I'd try something new. Had a few images of a flock of Pigeons and thought I'd try something a little "artistic". May not appeal to some, but I quite like the final image, especially as it was a rather bland sky. Cheers.

D500/500PF, f5.6, iso1600. Shutter speed? well the original image was 1/3200th sec.

[John Mack]

I like the thinking behind this frame. I would go even more high key. The white pigeon is neat.

[Brian Sump]

Paul, artistically I am a fan! Props to you for pushing the envelope and doing different, I feel like we need more of that here at times.

Really digging it personally, but seems as though it was done in post not with the settings? Might only be cooler with a bit of sun and maybe if it were achieved with the camera.

Feel free to share the details :-)

[Paul Burdett]

Thanks so much John and Brian

John: yes...more of a high key may be better.
Brian: I appreciate the +ve feedback. When I showed it to my wife she thought she hadn't had that much to drink...lol
Yes, it was done in post. I thought the original was ok but nothing special. I added a motion blur via the filter in Photoshop, then using a layer mask I clicked on each bird's head to bring back the sharp head. In camera panning at a low shutter speed can result in an "artistic blur" with the bird's body being blurred and the heads sharper, but I'm unsure if this would be possible with so many birds as in my image. Happy to be corrected here. Yes to more sun. I tried a few of the filters in Nik color efex pro here too...some of them added some colour which I didn't mind. Cheers.

[Andreas Liedmann]

Hi Paul .... i am liking the general idea , but using software does not work for me .
What bothers me the most are the " ghosted heads " in front of all the subjects .....
Just my personal thinking .
But agree with you , going OOTB could be fun and sometimes successful

TFS Andreas

[Paul Burdett]

Thanks Andreas. Thank you for your feedback...it's appreciated. As I said in my op I understand that it may not appeal to some, and that's ok. I was aware of the "ghosted" heads (you have a keen eye) but I guess the issue could be fixed with the layer masks, but I didn't bother here. I still maintain this "effect" would not be possible in camera (would love to be proved wrong) with so many birds. As you say...always fun to try something different.

[Arthur Morris]

I like it a lot. Love in fact. I too realized that it was so different that it had to be created in post. I would have never thought of what you did so thanks for opening up my brain. I will try to remember to try it soon. As for the blurred heads, I believe that you can get the blurring before or after a moving subject using flash and film, depending on first curtain or 2nd curtain sync. Or not :)

with love, artie

[Arthur Morris]

Hi Paul .... i am liking the general idea , but using software does not work for me .

TFS Andreas

Hi Andread. I am very confused by your blanket statement --" using software does not work for you."

If that is true, then I believe that you need to go back to shooting film :)

with love, artie

[Paul Burdett]

Artie. I really appreciate your feedback...the original image looked pretty bland, and as I looked at it I thought about your "blur' images you've taken with slow shutter speeds. I then thought about the blur filter in Photoshop and went from there. So glad you like it Artie...means a lot.

P.S. Flash not usable here due to the distance the birds were away...but food for thought in other situations.