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Thread: Oyster Catcher Preening

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    Default Oyster Catcher Preening



    This little guy was putting on a show for me. The bird almost blend in with the BG.
    As always critiques and comments are greatly appreciated!

    Camera: Nikon D3S
    Exposure: 0.001 sec (1/2000)
    Aperture: f/5.6
    Focal Length: 700 mm
    ISO Speed: 800
    Exposure Bias: 0 EV
    Flash: No Flash

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    Nice shot, great behaviour that gives a lovely view of the wing feathers. Agree that the bird does blend a bit into the background, not sure if this can really be helped.

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    Hi Troy, I like the low angle a lot and, of course, the interesting pose of the bird. Exposure looks spot on and details in the image are really nice (it is possible to see even the growth bar of the the feathers in the left wing) but I would add another ound of USM just for web presentation (even the sharpest file can turn a bit soft when downsized for web). The nice color in th ebill and eye are like a nice touch in this almost monochromatic image.

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    Its always good to capture behavioural shots, and I like the detail. The red bill stands out so well against the darker BG.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Juan Aragonés View Post
    Hi Troy, I like the low angle a lot and, of course, the interesting pose of the bird. Exposure looks spot on and details in the image are really nice (it is possible to see even the growth bar of the the feathers in the left wing) but I would add another ound of USM just for web presentation (even the sharpest file can turn a bit soft when downsized for web). The nice color in th ebill and eye are like a nice touch in this almost monochromatic image.
    Juan,

    What do you use when applying USM to the resized shot for the web?

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    Thank you.

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    Love the low angle. The capture of the bird preening is a very nice touch.

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    EXP and tail position perfect. For most preening images (including this one) the head needs to be parallel to the back of the camera...
    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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    Quote Originally Posted by Mark Young View Post
    Love the low angle. The capture of the bird preening is a very nice touch.
    Thank you Mark.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Arthur Morris View Post
    EXP and tail position perfect. For most preening images (including this one) the head needs to be parallel to the back of the camera...
    Thank you Artie. Are you saying parrellel in the horizontal way?
    Thanks for the tip.

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    YAW. The face always needs to be parallel to the imaging sensor. As is the head and face are severely angled away from the plane of the back of the camera, with the chin much farther away from you and the top of the head much closer. Does that make sense? This principle is covered in ABP II--do you have a copy?

    Also, I would crop about 1/3 off the bottom.

    As for sharpening for the web, you can--in Unsharp Mask, set the Radius to .3 and then play with the Amount. Somewhere between 100 and 450 will be perfect for JPEGs of varying sizes. Remember: with JPEGs for the web you do NOT want the image to look oversharpened. Lastly, you should select and sharpen only the subject and not the BKGR.
    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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    Quote Originally Posted by Arthur Morris View Post
    YAW. The face always needs to be parallel to the imaging sensor. As is the head and face are severely angled away from the plane of the back of the camera, with the chin much farther away from you and the top of the head much closer. Does that make sense? This principle is covered in ABP II--do you have a copy?

    Also, I would crop about 1/3 off the bottom.

    As for sharpening for the web, you can--in Unsharp Mask, set the Radius to .3 and then play with the Amount. Somewhere between 100 and 450 will be perfect for JPEGs of varying sizes. Remember: with JPEGs for the web you do NOT want the image to look oversharpened. Lastly, you should select and sharpen only the subject and not the BKGR.
    Thank you for the tips. They are captured in my memory now.

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    You are welcome. You missed my question above :)
    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,

    E-mail me at samandmayasgrandpa@att.net.










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    Quote Originally Posted by Arthur Morris View Post
    You are welcome. You missed my question above :)
    No. I do not have the book. :)

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    Publisher Arthur Morris's Avatar
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    Ah, I thought that you had picked one or both up at the Kayak Festival. If you want to get better quickly: ABP soft cover, ABP II, and Digital Basics :) I can only wish that they were all available when I started....
    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,

    E-mail me at samandmayasgrandpa@att.net.










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    Quote Originally Posted by Arthur Morris View Post
    Ah, I thought that you had picked one or both up at the Kayak Festival. If you want to get better quickly: ABP soft cover, ABP II, and Digital Basics :) I can only wish that they were all available when I started....
    I did not get a chance to go to the Kayak Festival.
    I will look into the books. Thank you again.

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    You are most welcome.
    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,

    E-mail me at samandmayasgrandpa@att.net.










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