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Thread: Bearded Vulture

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    Default Bearded Vulture

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    My first image on Birdphotographers.net and very honored to be part of this great community. Looking forward to learning more and being active here.

    At the age of 15 capturing the endangered Bearded Vulture has always been a dream. This images was captured last July at the Giants Castle Vulture hide, South Africa. Throughout the morning we did not have much luck of them landing, but finally one juvenile came in from a perfect frontal position to make a landing.

    I would very much appreciate your input, thanks!

    Technical:
    Canon EOS 1D Mark 3 with 500mm F4.0 L USM + Canon 1.4 (700mm)
    1/2000 @ F7.1 @ ISO 640
    Exp bias +1/3
    09:11 AM

  2. #2
    Nico Steenberg
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    Great to see you posting this side young man, a killer IMG to start off your account

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    BPN Member Morkel Erasmus's Avatar
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    A real cracker to open up your BPN account Wynand! Great exposure, wingspread, details and that classic Giant's Castle background...

    I might be tempted to tone down overall highlights just a tad...that would make the details pop even more.

    I have programmed this as an action and use it A LOT. Go to "Channels" palette. Click on the round icon at the bottom that says "Load channels as selection" when you hover over it. Now CTL+J to create a new layer. You will see this layer contains only the highlights of your image. Now double click on the layer to open up the "Layer Style" box. Click on "Blend Mode" and set to "Multiply". Now click OK. You will see it looks too dark, but now set your opacity to the desired level. I set it to about 70% on this repost.

    Here's a repost to show the effect...I hope you are fine with that!
    Morkel Erasmus

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    Happy to see you posting here young man! Very nice opening image and the detail is great nice pose and really like what Morkel did in the repost, maybe half way between the two

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    Avian Moderator Randy Stout's Avatar
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    Wynand:

    A big welcome to BPN. Excellent first image, improved in the repost by Morkel. The light was pretty harsh, and Morkel reduced the dynamic range a bit by doing the multiply mode on the highlights.

    In comparing the two images, I would probably set the opacity at 50-60%, but when you are trying to show a technique, you often have to overdo it a bit.

    I would probably add a smidge of canvas all the way around.

    Looking forward to more!

    Cheers

    Randy
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    Excellent first posting Wynand..keep them coming. Like Morkel's suggestion

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    Excellent first post . Welcome to BPN . Good suggestion by Morkel .

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    Lifetime Member Stu Bowie's Avatar
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    Welcome to BPN Wynand, and a good subject to start off with. I like the landing posture, and against a good GC BG. Morkel's repost works well.

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    Super Moderator arash_hazeghi's Avatar
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    welcome to BPN and a great first pose, I love the light and details. perhaps tone down the whites a little bit in the original like Morkel's repost.
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    Thank you very much for the comments and suggestions everyone. Appreciate the input! Will go tone down the highlights a bit like Morkel suggested.

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    Big welcome to BPN. You started with a bang. What an excellent first post.

    You already got some good advice. Loved the wing spread, eye level shooting angle and the creamy distant BG. Your placement of the subject is also very good...but a tad tight for my taste. I also think some more room is needed at the top and left...the right wing primaries' tips are pretty close to the frame. When you add space there, you'll also need a bit at bottom and right to balance that.

    Looking forward to more posts.

  12. #12
    Roman Kurywczak
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    Welcome to the forums Wynand! Great first post and Morkels tweaks take it up a notch. Fantastic landing pose and I like the tight crop.

  13. #13
    IOTY Winner 2008 Chris van Rooyen's Avatar
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    Nice one Wynand, welcome to the site. Great landing pose, looks like you had fun there

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    Thank you very much for your input everyone. Appreciate it!

    Will go add some space around the subject, thanks Kaustubh.

    Had a bliss there. What an amazing place!

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    Publisher Arthur Morris's Avatar
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    Hey buddy. Great to see you posting. The repost is better but the original is pretty darned good from where I sit. Yes to just a bit more room top, left and right.
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