Dead Gull Fights Back!

[Arthur Morris]

This Turkey Vulture scavenging a Ring-billed Gull carcass was photographed at Morro Bay, CA. I begin a full week (5-day) workshop today at the Lepp Institute and that will be followed by a weekend gig.

Canon 800mm f/5.6L IS lens (my brand new own copy) and the EOS-1D MIII. ISO 400. Evalutative metering at +1/3 stop. (+2/3 burned the white bill tip.)

Don't be shy; all comments welcome. I am here to learn to.

ps: There was lots of clean up needed here and I added canvas left. See below.

[Arthur Morris]

As you can see, there was lots of clean-up done to create the final optimized TIF. Some might say that this is no longer a photograph, others might call me deceitful, while others might call me a criminal. I am fine with all of the above. We do let editors (and others) know what we have done to create an image, and most importantly to me, the natural history of the moment has not been altered: in the original capture a vulture is scavenging a dead gull and in the master file a vulture is scavenging a dead gull. Same deal but a lot prettier and a lot more pleasing.

Rotated the image and then used a series of Quick Masks, the Patch Tool, and even the Clone Stamp as described in Digital Basics.

[Krijn Trimbos]

Hi Artie,

I would call you none of the above! I have done evenly and sometimes even more drastic post-processing clean up, and although it keeps being a problem to some people I don't mind it too much. I personally don't think digital alteration/manipulation is such a huge deal as long, like you pointed out, the natural history of the photo isn't altered. I am a big fan of making a photo prettier by removing distracting stuff like you did here.

The shot is killer! Love the open beak of the gull and the curious look of the vulture, the BG is lovely as well. An excellent photograph! The only suggestion I have is to see what this looks like when you make the shadow behind the vulture continous. Now the shadow line looks like you cloned out another vulture. Although a really minor detail, I was just curious if this would look better or worse.

Thanks for posting and showing the before and after photo!

Krijn

[Joe Senzatimore]

I believe what you have done is fine , as long as you let it be known ,which you have done. The same things were done in a wet darkroom for years , only not as quickly and easy. All part of the learning process.
By the way Artie, did you get my e-mail with the question on Estero?

[Arthur Morris]

Thanks Krijn! Great catch.

[Arthur Morris]

By the way Artie, did you get my e-mail with the question on Estero?

Hey Joe, I think that I got your e-mail and answered it... Please re-send the question to me here:

samandmayasgrandpa@att.net

[Juan Aragonés]

Some might say that this is no longer a photograph, others might call me deceitful, while others might call me a criminal. I am fine with all of the above. We do let editors (and others) know what we have done to create an image, and most importantly to me, the natural history of the moment has not been altered: in the original capture a vulture is scavenging a dead gull and in the master file a vulture is scavenging a dead gull. Same deal but a lot prettier and a lot more pleasing.

I couldn´t agree with you more than I do, my point of view is exactly the same of you. Lots of people doesn´t like this kind of alteration/manipulation (or whatever you want to name it) because they think that the reality of the scene is seriously altered. But very few persons stops to think about how much alteration can be introduced in an image that was created with Velvia (you know hom much this type of film oversatured the colors), or how much alteration of reality can be found in a B/W image (and what about sepia images?), or how the use of DOF or FL can modify the reality and... well, there are lots of examples (flash use, high shutter speeds, white balance). From my point of view, a photography is an interpretation of reality, a vague interpretation by the way, and we can made use of all the tools availbles to us to create our own interpretation. We are not notaries :)

I think that we are really fortunated to enjoy the inmense possibilities that digital tools offer to us for get just the result that we like.

From a nature point of view, both the original and the optimized TIF are exactly the same (a vulture feeding on a carrion) but from an artistic point of view the optimized TIF has a higher quality.

By the way, it is great to see that people like you, full time photographers, with a long and productive carrer, that just a few years ago were using film and analogic photography, are right now "absorving" and taking advantage of the digital world and produce images of much more quality. Way to go!

[Daniel Cadieux]

Excellent PS work Artie, and great eye by Krijn to catch that detail!! The modifications you've done here is about the same as I would have done judging by the pre clean-up version. I respect all people's work ethics but I find it too bad that some won't at least experiment with what can be done.

Congrats on now having your own 800mm :-)

[Piotr Shpakowski]

I like the gulls pose very mach.It's like it is still alive.

[Judy Lynn Malloch]

Excellent image, reposts and info . Many thanks Artie for sharing with us.

[Dave Mills]

I definately like the cleanup on the image. Good to show before and after.If one can take an image that has flaws and correct them to create a strong and technically sound image in my opinion it's more power to them.

[Jim Fenton]

Great image all the way aroound relative to the two subjects and their interactions...even though one of them is dead :)

At first glance I didn't notice the shadow but now that I see it gone...I do actually like it better.

The cleanup definetly makes the image and I have no issues simply sprucing things up.

[Joe Senzatimore]

Hey Joe, I think that I got your e-mail and answered it... Please re-send the question to me here:

samandmayasgrandpa@att.net

My question was regarding parking when you go to Estero. Do you still park in the shopping center? I used to park in the Holiday Inn Lot but the last time I was there I saw signs stating that cars would be towed.

[Raymond Barlow]

well done Artie, excellent image a pp., wonderful light, bg, and drama.

[Steve Canuel]

Neat capture. Gull seems to be sayiing "Owwwww". And thanks for posting the pre optimized version as well. Always interesting to see the evolution of an image.

[Axel Hildebrandt]

Amazing 'pose' of the gull, great light, details and angle. Thanks for showing the original, always interesting to see.