This is my first post here, so I hope I've done everything alright. I've spent ages looking through all of your amazing photos and I'm incredibly inspired by your work. May as well introduce myself, I'm 15, been into photography for about a year now, I certainly don't have any fancy equipment or live in a place with lots of exotic birds but I try to do the best with what I have. I enjoy all aspects of nature photogaphy, but especially birds and landscapes, though I spend the most time photographing animals at my local zoos.
This was taken at the Western Treatment Plant, just out the West of Melbourne, a hotspot for migrating birds.
Nikon D60
Nikon 70-300 VR
Slik 700DX
300mm
1/500th
f8
Hope you like it.
Last edited by DanielTMiller; 02-09-2010 at 12:42 AM.
Hi Daniel - A big warm welcome to the BPN Family - I was at the Western Treatment Plant today!!!!
Another Aussie -- Hooray!!!
Think I know this Bird and Post!!
Lots to like here - couple of pointers --- Keep a eye on your whites via the Histogram and make sure you have your over exposure Blinkies turned on in Camera - best to line the sun up at your back so that you get even illumination on your subject.
Nice details and sheen on the black feathers, You have a good HA and eye contact - feels a little tight a the top - not sure if this is much of a crop??
Like the blue hues of the water.
Looking forward to seeing more :)
Thanks Lance, it's a great spot isn't it. This is straight out of the camera I'm pretty sure, I'll have a go at toning down the whites and adding some space to the top.
Welcome, Daniel! I agree with Lance that a bit more canvas on top would be nice and definitely start checking that histogram for the "blinkies". Overall you have a very nice image - clean BG, good details and HA on the bird, and a nice sized post. Looking forward to many more!
My first impression of the image was great and I thought the exposure was pretty good. I could see plenty of details in the whites here and when imported and opened in Photoshop, I could see no issue with the histogram of the image you have presented, other than a tiny clip on the left side, which represents the blackest of your blacks in the image - see red lines in attached image. Also, I can see the calibration strip at the bottom of the page perfectly.
Good advice though, keep an eye on your histogram as you shoot. I have found that a few small blinkies are not an issue, but large areas of blinkies mean trouble. Agree with slight blue cast and to me if anything the blue water looks just a little too blue.
welcome to BPN, daniel!!! great first post!! straight out of the camera it looks fantastic. solid advice from lance. only thing i could add is too maybe do some bill work. you could clone in some texture in the highlighted areas.
Thanks for all the advice everyone, I was really happy with this photo to begin with but with all the tips it looks so much better, I think I'll really enjoy being a part of this forum.
Little Pied Cormorant
