well i left here in a huff on 10/12/2008. after getting over my hurt feelings i went to the task of getting a bird over a simple solid color. i finally succeeded. along the way i got some interesting shots which i will show someday in the future.:o
Glad to see you posting this one Mike !!! The only way to go !!! I try learning every time I post or comment on an image
Do like you got a totally clean bg !!! Way to go !!! Just takes patience and looking for it Agree the bird would look better with less space behind !! Keep snapping that shutter and don't even consider slowing down !!!!
Mike, You can't get your feelings hurt. Everyone here is trying to help. NOBODY in this forum would ever try to hurt your feelings. They critique your picture-NOT YOU!! There isn't one person on BPN that hasn't at one time posted something that others may reject-Keep in mind it is art and art is subjective. If your photo makes YOU smile then you are doing a good job. I think you are making alot of progress. So that means this process is working- you are learning ,We are all learning together! Hope to see more of your heartfelt images!!
when i said i left in a huff, it was because noone would spoon feed me the information that i wanted. it was MY fault. what happened was that i went back and considered what you guys said all those times and went back to the books. i finally decided to use a quick mask or extraction. either one worked. please don't feel that i harbor any grudges. learning is hard and i have to learn by being told, over and over again what i am not doing that other, more successful photographers are doing. just looking at Dave Slaughter's work made me eager to learn.
mike, there was a thread recently that i read (i looked for it but couldnt find it) talking about what makes a great photo. they said that they start with finding a suitable background, set up and wait for the bird to perch there. in essence having the picture in their mind before they ever push the shutter button!! it is much easier to do post processing when you get it in the camera the way you want it without having to do a lot of removal (quick masks or extraction) in post processing.
elaborate more on the info you want spoonfed to you. we will all help as much as we can. i have read The Art of Bird Photography by Artie and am working on ABPII. good resources!! most of the nature photography magazines are great and it always helps to shoot with experienced photographers as often as you can!!
If your going to change backgrounds to a solid colour, when you move the subject over your new background it's best to start with a background eraser changing the tolerance as you go along. When there is less contrast between subject and background, use a lower tolerance so you gert a nice clean edge as you go along. Sometimes the eraser digs into the subject, cancel that cut, leave it, and later fine tune it at about 300% with the eraser at different degrees of opacity.
As Harold said, it is better to be patient and wait for a good background. Sometimes hard to find with stick birds in mountainous areas or with a lot of trees.
B Jay
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