Fisheye Masked Booby

[Arthur Morris]

I created this image with the Canon 15mm fisheye lens (hand held) and the Canon EOS-1D Mark IV. ISO 200. Evaluative metering +1/3 stops: 1/300 sec. at f/18 in Program mode. Yes, Program mode! On-camera “fill flash” (ETTL at zero) was provided by the Canon 580 EX II Speedlight.

For the whole Masked Booby on Midway story and four more images, check out last night's blog post, Taking Advantage...

IAC, don't be shy; all comments are welcome.

ps: Heading to the blog might help you answer this question, "Was I too close to this bird?"

[Mike Milicia]

Loved this when I saw it on the blog and great to see it larger here!

Great use of fisheye, excellent comp, lovely beach, water, and sky, perfect exposure and detail ... all adds up to one wonderful image.

[Geir Jensen]

I created this image with the Canon 15mm fisheye lens (hand held) and the Canon EOS-1D Mark IV. ISO 200. Evaluative metering +1/3 stops: 1/300 sec. at f/18 in Program mode. Yes, Program mode! On-camera “fill flash” (ETTL at zero) was provided by the Canon 580 EX II Speedlight.

For the whole Masked Booby on Midway story and four more images, check out last night's blog post, Taking Advantage...

IAC, don't be shy; all comments are welcome.

ps: Heading to the blog might help you answer this question, "Was I too close to this bird?"

You were not too close. I dream of getting as close to the bird. I do not know how to use Photo Shop. But maybe used the lens correction to make the beach straighter. Sorry for my bad English.

[Arthur Morris]

Geir, Your English is just fine. As for the curved beach, I like the fisheye look. I wish that I had had a full frame camera to make the beach even more curved :) Thanks for stopping by.

[denise ippolito]

I love the curved look of the horizon too. The pose and cool perspective make this a winner!

[Ofer Levy]

Nice shot. Techs look spot on. Not crazy about the un-naturally curved horizon.

[Gary Esman]

Love this! Very cool. Something totally different. The curved horizon, gorgeous water and clouds make a great shot. Great use of the fisheye

Gary.

[dankearl]

I like the curve. I would have liked the bird at the bottom of the curve in the center of the fisheye look, but it is nice as is.

[Steven Kersting]

Definitely not too close. My feeling is, if you are not close you are not using a wide angle properly. But fisheyes are difficult for me, I prefer rectilinear in 99% of cases.

In this case, I don't feel the distortion terribly hurts the image, but I feel it doesn't really help either. To me it is a bit of a distractor from the subject. (obviously there are different opinions on this)

I just did a quick edit to remove the distortion and filled in some resulting white space. (not too great a job, particularly on the rt side)



I need to get out and take more pictures of my own to edit

[Dave Leroy]

Lovely photo and very creative.

I particularly like composition with the curving beach line coming together with the almost straight water line on right side.

Photo has a very happy and fun feeling to it.

Dave

[Tom Redd]

Wonderful image, I vote for the curve as in the OP. It seems to give more depth to the image IMHO.

[Arthur Morris]

Thanks all for stopping by. Yes, some folks love the curved lines produced by fisheye lenses (count me in that group), and others do not. I love the curved pointing triangle in the original.

[Grace Scalzo]

You've got a few spots in your sky to clean up (f18!). I'm not generally a fan of the fisheye curve, but find this one captivating.

[Alan Murphy]

Love this out of the box shot.

[Brendan Dozier]

Refreshingly cool & different composition, Artie, like the curved perspective lines of horizon & shorline. Fun stuff!

[Troy Lim]

Prefer the original shot, it is unusual, not something we see everyday.

[Arthur Morris]

Thanks again all. Grace, you have good eyes. When I blew up the TIFF there were about 15 of them!!!

[Dan Avelon]

nice perspective, I see no point in the repost it is not only terribly soft but also defeats the purpose of using a fish eye.. obviously if Arthur wanted a straight horizon he would have used a normal wide lens...

[Arthur Morris]

Good points Dan. What do you like to photograph?

[Ron Caswell]

Art, Count me in for loving the curve of the original, I always like to fool with the fisheye and find it a great lens to have if used in moderation. I find your image works great and was nice to see your shot on your blog with all the people laying down shooting these birds. Ron

[Arno Ellmer]

Never used or even considered f.e lens for bird photography.Fascinating and captivating image !Far prefer curved horizon than straightened one, in this case.

[Arthur Morris]

Thanks Ron and Arno. Using the fish eye requires a large learning curve. I rarely take it out on a sunny day as then my shadow will almost always be in the photograph. Here, the sun we behind a soft cloud :)

[Scott Grant]

I've been looking at this image for a couple of days now and it is just as compelling as the first time i viewed it.

I do like the curved horizon. The bird is stunning and your use of flash is second to none.

Thanks so much for sharing the story and technique behind the image!

[Arthur Morris]

Many thanks Scott. I should have mentioned that several years ago I photographed either a Masked or a Nazca Booby on the cliffs at LaJolla, CA

[Sidharth Kodikal]

Amazingly creative. I love the fisheye effect. Beautiful bird and setting. Enjoyed this image a lot. Thanks for sharing.

[Tin Man Lee]

Loved this photo so much since first saw it in Artie's blog. The placement of the masked bobby is superb. I don't know why I have the imagination but the masked bobby really looked like a successful businessman looking across the ocean and the sky and calmly said "I am the king of the world". The curveness added even more power to an already powerful photo. Nice use of flash too.

[Arthur Morris]

Sidharth and Tin Man, Thanks for sharing your thoughts and for your kind words.

[Steven Kersting]

nice perspective, I see no point in the repost it is not only terribly soft but also defeats the purpose of using a fish eye.. obviously if Arthur wanted a straight horizon he would have used a normal wide lens...

Yes and no.

As for the repost, it was simply to show the difference between the original and without the curve....it's not my image and I'm not going to spend a ton of time editing. I was not terribly concerned w/ "sharpness" or even absolute quality of the edits. (I had to downsize and reduce Jpeg quality to meet forum hosting limits). It's Art's pic and I would not expect him to copy my repost and use it as his own....I would expect him to reedit the image himself similarly if he thought the repost idea had merits.

Depending upon your gear (sensor size and lens availability), a fisheye might be your only choice to go ultra wide (although rectilinear UW's are becoming more available). Just because you might need to use a FE to get the FOV doesn't mean you have to accept the resulting curvature as a "feature" of the image (hooray for digital!)

While I do agree that the curved horizon adds an unusual/ creative aspect to the image and even some dynamics that are not otherwise there, I also feel that it draws attention away from the bird itself. So the question becomes, is the image about the bird, is it about the scene, or some combination of both? Generally, when an image is about "both" it isn't as strong overall. To me, the original post is about "both" because the curved horizon demands attention. But in this case, because of the added dynamics and because the curved horizon also functions somewhat as leading lines, being about "both" isn't a complete killer.

Just my 2c.... you don't have to agree.

[Arthur Morris]

Steven, I always appreciate that folks take the time to do a repost. I have used the 14mm rectilinear and did not care much for it. For me (and for many others here), the curved horizon line adds interest so I obviously disagree with your line of reasoning :). What can I say? I like the fish eye look and will be sure to bring along a loaner full frame body on future trips to places with fisheye potential.

Note to Dan: re-saved JPEGs will often appear unsharp and exhibit other loss of quality). Also, "soft" or "unsharp" would have been a lot friendlier than "terribly soft" :).

[Steven Kersting]

I don't know why I have the imagination but the masked bobby really looked like a successful businessman looking across the ocean and the sky and calmly said "I am the king of the world".

The low vantage point and the lens distortion to the bird both add to an impression of relative "largeness" of the bird. This generally will convey a sense of "power" in an image. Of course, the bird's pose also adds to the impression. IMO, this overall "feeling" is why the image works as originally posted.

[Steven Kersting]

Steven, I always appreciate that folks take the time to do a repost. I have used the 14mm rectilinear and did not care much for it. For me (and for many others here), the curved horizon line adds interest so I obviously disagree with your line of reasoning :). What can I say? I like the fish eye look and will be sure to bring along a loaner full frame body on future trips to places with fisheye potential.

Note to Dan: re-saved JPEGs will often appear unsharp and exhibit other loss of quality). Also, "soft" or "unsharp" would have been a lot friendlier than "terribly soft" :).

No problem...I didn't say the original image doesn't work. It just works "differently" and for different reasons. Without the multiple "horizon lines" also functioning as leading lines, or without the very low perspective, this image probably wouldn't work at all.
I don't think the repost is "better"...it is just different. I do think it is "better" at making the bird the primary focal point, but it would also need additional editing to take the idea to fruition (cropping etc).
I think I would personally pursue the latter, but in the end it is your image and your art. I have no heartache about it either way.

BTW, I also think that not exploring the potential of FE shots when the opportunity arrises would be a mistake.

[Chris Martinez]

Were you too close??

The bird doesn't seem to think so!!....

Totally dig the fish-eye effect "FE" and agree a full frame would really make this photograph sizzle.

[Kiran Poonacha]

I want to try a frame like this guru... TFS