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Thread: Soft Black-tailed Godwit

  1. #1
    Andrew George
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    Default Soft Black-tailed Godwit

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    Hi Guys,

    For my work I was on a course in another part of The Netherlands and I had a chance afterwards to visit these guys :D. Sadly enough these BTG's are not comming back yet in the (southern) region where I live.
    The weather was very cloudy/rainy and I tried to make the best of it. I personally like the softness in this photo, but with enough detail :confused: as I shot with:

    D300
    200-400 VR 4.0 + TC1,4
    ISO800
    F7.1
    1/160
    angel finder
    bean bag for support.

  2. #2
    Maxis Gamez
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    HI Andrew,

    Love the pose, details and low angle. Very gentle image.

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    Stunning image, the low angle, just enough detail and the BG fading into the lighter blue at the top is a winner. Great effort.

  4. #4
    Lifetime Member Doug Brown's Avatar
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    'Gentle' (see Maxis above) is a great word to describe this image. Very pretty.

  5. #5
    Gus Cobos
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    Very nice composition Andrew,
    Love the action and the nice soft mellow colors of the background...:D

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    Really nice cozy feeling image. The color and BG are great.

  7. #7
    Publisher Arthur Morris's Avatar
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    I too love this one, especially the elegant pose and the strip of soft blue sky at the top. Moving the bird back in the frame (by pointing the lens more to the right after focusing) might have improved it by getting the bird a bit more out of the center.

    later and love, artie
    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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  8. #8
    Linda Robbins
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    I love the soft light here and the pose. The bg is exceptionally pretty. Great image all around!

  9. #9
    Fabs Forns
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    Congratulations on a fine image, the background is specially sweet.

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    Great setting. The graduated BG is fantastic. I would prefer a different pose (Im sure you have many images from this encounter).

  11. #11
    Del Cockroft
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    A well exposed and beautiful image. Fantastic BG.

  12. #12
    Andrew George
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    Quote Originally Posted by Arthur Morris View Post
    I too love this one, especially the elegant pose and the strip of soft blue sky at the top. Moving the bird back in the frame (by pointing the lens more to the right after focusing) might have improved it by getting the bird a bit more out of the center.

    later and love, artie
    Thanks all so far! I'm gald to hear the softness or gentleness works out here :)

    @Arthur, Thanks for the advice. With little DOF isn't there a risk the bird will be out of focus?:eek:

  13. #13
    Robert Smith
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    I think what Artie was saying was to focus on the bird, lock the focus, and then shift composition so that the bird's eye is roughly on the 1/3 line....

    Gentle and smooth is a really good description of this dreamy capture. I like it!

  14. #14
    Leroy Laverman
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    Very tender shot. Perhaps if more people saw images like this they might help the birds in their recovery. DOF works very well here.

  15. #15
    Publisher Arthur Morris's Avatar
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    Andrew, There are lots of way to move the bird back in the frame while still producing a sharp on the eye image. You could use S focus in Nikon (One-Shot in Canon), focus on the eye, and recompose as Robert suggested above. Or, you could use back button focus with C (AI Servo in Canon) and do the same thing. Or, you could use C and select a single off-centered sensor that would cover the bird's eye, or (GASP), you could focus manually.

    later and love and I still like this image...

    artie
    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.










  16. #16
    Ken Kijewski
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    Nicely composed! Well seen and photographed.

  17. #17
    Robert O'Toole
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    Love the image, super, the light and the BG are fantastic.

    Robert

  18. #18
    Forum Participant Manos Papadomanolakis's Avatar
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    Great pose,light and colors,nice work!!!

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    Beautiful image.
    Though am not sure if I understood Andrew entirely correctly, but my guess as to what Andrew is trying to say is that after u lock the focus on the bird, if u recompose (IMP: with very little DOF), the pre-locked focal plane may not keep the entire bird in focus (because the bird no more falls exactly in it)...

  20. #20
    Andrew George
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    Thanks Kaushik, exaclty what I ment!

  21. #21
    Ákos Lumnitzer
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    Beautiful colors and the soft background make your bird pop. Also like the preening pose. Far better than a static portrait. Though, they can also be beautiful in their own right. :)

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