I joined James Shadle for a trip on Tampa Bay aboard James' flats boat Hooptie this morning. We are glad to report that the spoonies are in and getting gorgeous.
Canon 500mm f/4L IS lens with the 1.4X II TC and the EOS 1Ds MIII. Evaulative Metering + 2 stops off the sky above the mangroves: 1/800 sec. at f/7.1. Mongoose M3.5 and Gitzo 3530 LSV CF tripod. Slight crop and got rid of two partial bird heads from the LLC.
Don't be shy; all comments welcome. Thanks Froggie! And later and love, artie
Last edited by Arthur Morris; 02-01-2008 at 10:24 AM.
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.
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Very nice exposure on the upper part of the bird. The lower legs seem to be blending in the background, would a fill flash of -2/3 with BB help in such a condition?
The early morning light and colour impact of the spoonbill really makes this work for me Art. The only nit from my end is the multiple red tree bases competing with the bird.
Oh this is so not fair!!! You got to get out with the Spoonies before me? Dad and I are going to have a little talk :D Very nice work, Artie. I love the color and the way the light bevels each primary feather. Legs blend into the background a little bit, but the light is incredible.
Rene, Not sure if fill flash would have helped. See the SH/H version below.
All: As for the mangroves, I am a lover of what is If I had pressed the shutter and instant earlier I would have gotten the bird totally against the green foliage...I might, however, have lost the full braking wing spread...
George: good luck. We also had great flight opps for Brown Pelican and Double-crested Cormorants in smoking breeding plumage.
Axel & Bonnie: See below for 20/30/30 Sh/H version (w midtone contrast 12), then 4 pixel Guassian Blur on all but the bird to reduce increased noise. I tried Axel's Reduce Noise trick but when I toggled preview on and off the image did not change... Care to do a tutorial for the site?
Blake: Too bad! Now get to work on the Store!
Later and love to all, artie, headed for DeSoto
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,
I think the repost looks great. As for noise reduction, I basically use the PS tool at strength 6-10 /45 /45 /0 and remove artifacts checked on the BG only. Gaussian Blur sometimes looks too milky (for the lack of a better word) when the BG is not uniform.
Lovely photo and colour of these spoonbills - the ones in South Africa are white only :-( The full breaking wingspread and stunning light makes this a winner. Ditto the BG, but still very nicely done!
Open Season on Spoonbills
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