This is a composite image from two different frames. Due to my gear restrictions it was not possible to get both snake sharp in the same frame and I decided to go for a composite image. I made two different images but changing my focus point. In the first one I got one snake in focus while the other one was out of focus. Then I repeated the image but inverting the focused snake. A few minutes in PS allowed me to combine both image and to increase the deep of field.
I would like to hear your comments about this image and suggestions about the technique I used here.
Nikon D2X AFS Nikkor 300VR + 2XTC 1/160s f6,3 ISO 320 WHII tripod and blind, some cloning job, noise reduction, levels...
Last edited by Juan Aragonés; 11-30-2008 at 07:11 AM.
Nice work, Juan! I would never have known you did this unless you said so.
I do feel that you would have got a nicer look to the water if you had used a polarizing filter, though. I put your image into PS and did a shadow/highlights adjustment to help bring the glare on the water down a bit. Then I duplicated the layer, changed the blend mode to multiply, and backed down on the opacity until the snakes looked good. I did a mid- and upper-tone adjustment in levels and then ran some noise reduction. Finally, I cropped it down to get rid of the most distracting glare in the FG. You may want to go wider than this...now that I look at it it feels a bit tight in the frame.
Juan,
Good work. Thanks for sharing the process with us. I would not have known that this is a composite. By posting the two individual images, you have clearly illustrated the process. I liked it. You have demonstrated that clarity of thought is important not just before the computer but also when you are creating the individual images.
Thank you guys and gals for the commenst. Much apreciated. Julie I like your repost but I prefer the original crop so I think that I will try to rework the processing of this image using your suggestion but keeping the original crop ;)