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Thread: Nickerson Sunrise Skimmers

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    Publisher Arthur Morris's Avatar
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    Default Nickerson Sunrise Skimmers

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    Nickerson has been great. I had so much fun during and after the hurricane that I am staying on Long Island for another week. :) This image was created this morning at 6:41am with the Canon 800mm f/5.6L IS lens and the EOS-1D Mark IV. Mongoose M3.6 and Gitzo 3530 LS CF tripod. Standing. Central sensor AI Servo AF/rear-focus.

    ISO 100. Evaluative metering +1 stop: 1/15 sec. at f/22. Removed lots of birds along the frame edges.

    Don't be shy; all comments welcome.

    For more Nickerson stuff click here. To see my Sunday afternoon Irene images click here.
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    Great sunrise colors! This image shows skimmers as fabulous blur subjects with their long bills and graceful wings, plus a lovely composition with the flock along the diagonal. If I could pick up and rearrange each bird I would like to separate the two in the upper left hand corner. Who would have thought beach conditions after Irene would still offer such photo opportunities!

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    Publisher Arthur Morris's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Nancy Bell View Post
    Who would have thought beach conditions after Irene would still offer such photo opportunities!
    Thanks Nancy. That would be me! :)
    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.

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    Artie, it's a beautiful image...deep, saturated colors...the blur is very effective in heightening the sense of movement and speed while still maintaining an almost serene gracefulness to the flight of the skimmers...and I love the fact that so many of their bills have maintained their sharp outline in the silhouettes; you can still recognize the silhouettes as skimmers. For me (and I'm just thinking out loud here!), I don't know that the darker shadows along the bottom of the image (waves breaking along the shoreline?) add to this particular composition...I'd be tempted to crop those and possible add a bit of canvas to the left (not too much) and to the right (a little more than on the left), creating almost a panoramic view...and giving the skimmers a bit more space to fly into. Either way, it's a picture that draws my eye to it time and again...well done!

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    P.S. Artie, there are two little dots in the image...I'm not sure what they are...one almost dead center, just to the right of the two skimmers closest to the center of the frame...and another, at about 2:00 from the first, just below the two skimmers near the top of the frame...not sure what they are?

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    I really like the colors and the dark silhouettes of the skimmers' bodies. I don't mind the darker color at the bottom.

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    Artie, beautiful sunrise colors and I'm so glad they made it through the storm
    "It is only with the heart that one can see rightly" - The Little Prince

    http://tuscawillaphotographycherylslechta.zenfolio.com/

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    Artie...beautiful colors and great seperation of the birds....I always get clumps of overlapping birds it seems.....i don't mind the bottom border...in fact i kind of like it! Great image!

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    Beautiful blur and colors. I like the clean up and the line of the birds!

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    Quote Originally Posted by John Storjohann View Post
    P.S. Artie, there are two little dots in the image...I'm not sure what they are...one almost dead center, just to the right of the two skimmers closest to the center of the frame...and another, at about 2:00 from the first, just below the two skimmers near the top of the frame...not sure what they are?
    Thanks John! f/22 dust bunnies. I will get rid of them in the ORIG.
    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 John Storjohann View Post
    Artie, it's a beautiful image...deep, saturated colors...the blur is very effective in heightening the sense of movement and speed while still maintaining an almost serene gracefulness to the flight of the skimmers...and I love the fact that so many of their bills have maintained their sharp outline in the silhouettes; you can still recognize the silhouettes as skimmers. For me (and I'm just thinking out loud here!), I don't know that the darker shadows along the bottom of the image (waves breaking along the shoreline?) add to this particular composition...I'd be tempted to crop those and possible add a bit of canvas to the left (not too much) and to the right (a little more than on the left), creating almost a panoramic view...and giving the skimmers a bit more space to fly into. Either way, it's a picture that draws my eye to it time and again...well done!
    The dark things are distant buildings. I am fine with the framing as is because this is a group (rather than an individual bird).
    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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    Artie, I love this composition. Wonderful shapes of those birds and what an amazing sky!

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    Publisher Arthur Morris's Avatar
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    Thanks all :). FOr educational purposes, here is the properly exposed original. The actual color was somewhere between the two. Remember, when you properly expose a SILH in camera it will always look washed out. Be careful, however, using the HSL panel in CS-5 as it is easy to overdo it. See the first image in Silhouette Choice (and Lesson) I.
    Last edited by Arthur Morris; 09-03-2011 at 06:25 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.

    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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    Artie, that's a wonderful little tutorial on silhouettes...thank you for sharing it! What has been so beneficial about this site, and the blogs of some of the photographers here, is the constant attention to little nuances, as well as the often detailed explanations of WHY those little nuances can be so critical. I don't know why it took me so long to start posting. Thanks again.

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    John, Can I give you a hug! On IPTs folks often ask, "What's the single big secret?" My response is always the same: "There is no single big secret other than the fact that you need to learn to pay attention to thousands of small details."

    Yikes. I just saw that I did not upload the image in Pane 13. Will go back and do that now.
    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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    Artie, man-hugs are more acceptable ...and it's good advice. It's the little nuances..and, often, slowing down. Taking the time to see what's before you. A prime example is the image Denise made yesterday (you aptly commented about making soup from stone)...seeing what's there. Take care.

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    Arthur, love the blur and the background color. The buildings along the bottom look like clouds to me. Very nice!

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