Two Crystal Globes

[Arthur Morris]

This juvenile plumage Semipalmated Sandpiper was photographed mid-bath with the Canon 800mm f/5.6L IS lens, the 1.4X III TC, and the EOS-1D. ISO 400. Evaluative metering +1/3 stop: 1/1000 sec. at f/9 in late afternoon light at Nickerson Beach. Central sensor rear focus AI Servo AF.

This was surely a serendipitous capture. Don't be shy; all comments welcome.

Note for Ofer: this image was capture in Pro Photo RGB. The whites in the optimized TIF were fine, nothing above 233. After I converted it to sRGB I checked and found all the white on the neck showing as over-exposed (but still showing detail....) Any clues as to what was going on? This image should be in ProPhoto RGB (though I did not check the Embed Profile box when saving for web.

[Randy Stout]

Artie:

Lovely low angle, great jewelry on the back,nice catchlight, soft/smooth background.

I think it needs the very slightest CW rotation, based on the vertical line of the reflection of the head. Not an easy call because of the slight angle to the ripple between us and the bird.

Dreamy.

Cheers

Randy

[Tom Rambaut]

Lovley image Arthur - HA and low angle make it work for me and of course those water droplets. Would be interested in seeing that top droplet up close as there seems to be a reflection - can you see yourself in it?

[Doug Brown]

Those water droplets are huge! I love the smooth water and the perfect head turn. As you point out Artie, there's no embedded profile in this image, so you are at the mercy of the various browsers now. Why did you choose to not embed a profile?

[Arthur Morris]

Lovley image Arthur - HA and low angle make it work for me and of course those water droplets. Would be interested in seeing that top droplet up close as there seems to be a reflection - can you see yourself in it?

Yes, you gotta love the textbook head angle when something good happens. No me in the droplets. Here they are turned upside down. Any ideas?

[Kaustubh Deshpande]

Artie, very nice indeed. ultra-low angle and the droplets make a huge difference. The dark band at the top is also a nice touch.

[Gary Esman]

Yes, you gotta love the textbook head angle when something good happens. No me in the droplets. Here they are turned upside down. Any ideas?

Artie,

Looks like a canoe or boat

Gary

[Arthur Morris]

Artie,

Looks like a canoe or boat

Gary

No canoes or boats within miles. I am thinking that it might somehow be the back of the bird's head.... Maybe Roger Clark can explain the science of reflections in water droplets to us.

[Tom Rambaut]

Yes, you gotta love the textbook head angle when something good happens. No me in the droplets. Here they are turned upside down. Any ideas?

Well there is no photographer in this but there is what seems to be a beach and sky in the BG. I think the other thing is the side, and towards the tail, of the bird?

[Alan Murphy]

Artie, when I first opened this and before I read your text, I thought the birds glasses had fallen off his head :-)

Low angle, head turn and frozen water are great. Agree that the water looks like it needs rotation.

[Troy Lim]

Superb shot, love the calm water and water droplets.
Agree on the rotation.

[Marina Scarr]

Water droplets really make for a unique capture here, and the soft BG & FG really help to bring a lot of attention to your subject. I would crop a tad from the right if it were mine.

[Ofer Levy]

This is a beutiful shot Artie! Low angle, sharpness, detail, smooth BG and FG, those interesting droplets, eye contact - all first class. Just fixed the sRGB issue, a slight CW rotation as suggested, some cooling and colour balancing.
Every time I see an image from you I wonder how long will I keep on wasting my time with the 600....

[Craig Brelsford]

Great work as always Artie. Yes, with Ofer, I'm finding your 800 mm lens interesting indeed. Of course Artie's not going to be in the reflection in the jewel-like droplets. With 1200 mm focal length, he surely wasn't right on top of this bird. Which leads to this question. As you were far back, how come the rump of the sandpiper isn't crisp at f9? Is it because there was a slight loss of IQ from a hefty crop?

[christopher galeski]

nice image,nice and low,nice light,and the see through eggs,on its back,clinch this shot.thanks.

[Arthur Morris]

As you were far back, how come the rump of the sandpiper isn't crisp at f9? Is it because there was a slight loss of IQ from a hefty crop?

Not much of a crop at all. DOF at f/9 at 20 feet is about 1/10th of one inch in front of and behind the point of focus. In other words, not much. That plus a bit of subject movement explains the lack of crispness in the rump.

[Nancy Bell]

On my monitor I prefer the 2nd post by Ofer. Both color and contrast are better. Of course, the water droplets are fantastic!

[Sidharth Kodikal]

Love the super low angle, the cute subject and those water drops. An image like this makes me question why I sit cooped up in my office all day :(
Love the head turn and the comp too.
Agree with the rotation, but prefer the warmth of the OP.
Great work, Artie.

[Stu Bowie]

How calm is that water, and just love the light in this. Perfect perspective, and of course, those droplets puts this over the top.

[subhrashis]

Don't think I need to say anything more about the image.... awesome!!! I love his serious expression too.
Ofer's repost shows better colors here, but seems to have lost sharpness somehow - another round of USM?

As for the water drop, it's not reflecting but refracting like a convex lens.... that's the faraway horizon and bit of his far wing visible.... this is kinda like those macro images of water drops where you show an OOF flower behind being refracted and visible sharply through it - very very cool !!!

[Herb Houghton]

Hey Artie, I love the blurred fore and BGDs. The exposure looks great as does the clarity. The globes are interesting on it's back. I'm not sure of the advantage of shooting in pro Photo RGB and converting to sRGB later ? Is there a better color rendition shooting in Pro Photo RGB ?

[Arthur Morris]

Hey Artie, I love the blurred fore and BGDs. The exposure looks great as does the clarity. The globes are interesting on it's back. I'm not sure of the advantage of shooting in pro Photo RGB and converting to sRGB later ? Is there a better color rendition shooting in Pro Photo RGB ?

Robert O'Toole is big on Pro Photo RGB and he is pretty smart. I believe it has a wider color gamut. I will have to pass on the RGB part of the question as I am struggling with lots of sRGB-related color management issues right now. Puzzled as in no clue!

I will see if I can get Robert to chime in here.

[Ofer Levy]

Don't think I need to say anything more about the image.... awesome!!! I love his serious expression too.
Ofer's repost shows better colors here, but seems to have lost sharpness somehow - another round of USM?

As for the water drop, it's not reflecting but refracting like a convex lens.... that's the faraway horizon and bit of his far wing visible.... this is kinda like those macro images of water drops where you show an OOF flower behind being refracted and visible sharply through it - very very cool !!!

Hi Subhrashis, every time you manipulate a JPEG file you lose some of the image quality - it is especially noticeable when working with such tiny files....

[Jim Fenton]

This is sweet Artie.....wonderful low angle, HA, selective focus, lighting and the water blobs really make it special.

[Arthur Morris]

This is a beutiful shot Artie! Low angle, sharpness, detail, smooth BG and FG, those interesting droplets, eye contact - all first class. Just fixed the sRGB issue, a slight CW rotation as suggested, some cooling and colour balancing. Every time I see an image from you I wonder how long will I keep on wasting my time with the 600....

Thanks for the very nice repost. I am still not convinced on the rotation; it depends what you go by....