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Thread: Old Home Week...

  1. #1
    Publisher Arthur Morris's Avatar
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    Default Old Home Week...

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    I lived in NY for most of my adult life. When I started photographing in the 80s there was an amazing gull colony adjacent to the parking lots at Captree State Park south of Bayshore, Long Island. After they capped all the big dumps, the gull populations crashed and the colony is only a memory. But old habits die hard. I am staying at my Mom's in Holbrook and had this afternoon free so it was back to Captree to photography some Herring Gulls. I have very little on them on digital.

    This backlit breeding plumage Herring was photographed against a pink western sky with the handheld 400mm f/4 L DO lens and the EOS-1D MIII. ISO 1600. Evaluative metering + 2 1/3 stops off of the grey sky set manually. Fill flash on camera at -1 stop.

    Don't be shy. All comments welcome. artie

    ps: the white glow on the back of the neck is the rim light as it is in the RAW file.
    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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  2. #2
    Taylor Yeager
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    Very nice. They wing has me struggling. Thinking of the body position. Maybe I would like to see a tad more of the body.

    ~Taylor

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    Lifetime Member Marina Scarr's Avatar
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    I absolutely love the bird's head, the sharpness of the eye and the soft background. I just wish the bird's head were not as centered. There is something just a bit awkward about it's positioning...maybe some more body or just the head shot.

  4. #4
    Linda Robbins
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    The head is beautiful with razor sharp detail, but the small bit of the bird's back is distracting to me. Soft beautiful light and just the right touch of fill flash. You must have been lying flat to get this very low perspective...and I believe it is freezing cold there at the moment isn't it?

  5. #5
    Alfred Forns
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    Gorgeous portrait Artie I would take a little of the bottom dark area? Seems to catch me eye !!!

    I like the eye so much might even crop tighter and remove some of the back to make it larger in frame !!! Awesome image any way !!!

  6. #6
    Ákos Lumnitzer
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    Great colors and pin sharp Artie.
    I also think the small part of the back that's visible is a tad distracting. :)

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    Very nice Gull Portrait, The lack of noise at ISO 1600 Is amazing. The white plumage works well against the background, The Visable portion of the back does not really distract me......

  8. #8
    Publisher Arthur Morris's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Linda Robbins View Post
    You must have been lying flat to get this very low perspective...and I believe it is freezing cold there at the moment isn't it?
    Not sure if it was freezing but I was freezing! I had to go back to the SUV every 15 minutes to warm up. The bird was on a railing but I did have to scootch down a bit so as to include the small strip of pinkish sky. If I had not included the strip of the distant bushes, I would have lost the best color, and, I actually like the dark strip. Thanks to all who commented, but I like the look-back pose with the inclusion of a portion of the back, and I like the composition too.

    When I checked this thread this morning, I noted that the originally posted JPEG was created before I did some bill clean-up using the Patch Tool. Note the differences in the bill in the image above as compared to the ORIG.

    Later and love, artie
    Last edited by Arthur Morris; 04-04-2008 at 06:31 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.










  9. #9
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    I like this Artie, as is., a close up of any bird is interesting since such a view is not normally obtained in the wild., beautiful job on the exposure, and details., as far as the back issue is concerned, I have no idea what they are talking about!

    kind regards.

  10. #10
    Fabs Forns
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    Hey Maestro, great colors, love the repost now that you showed it, was happy with the first one too :)

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    I have always had trouble with distant strips od bg, colors or what some might think as distracting horizons. Personally it is all in the perspective of the artist and what the viewer is "used to" seeing. We all could use a dose of "whats new to us" once in a while.

    Excellent whites Art. The second one does pop a bit more. Gulls make very attractive images when done with a artistic eye. You have one.

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    Artie,
    I'm noticing a halo on your repost. Maybe a little too much USM?

  13. #13
    Forum Participant Manos Papadomanolakis's Avatar
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    I Iove the colors and eye contact,a masterpiece

  14. #14
    Andrew George
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    De techs are excellent. Great use of fill flash, this was the best option in this situation I guess. On the other hand my feelings begin to mix, because of the contrast of the warm nice sunset colors and the flashed gull on the other hand, even if it's just fill flash..just a thought why I get mixed emotions.

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    Very pretty gull and I like the bg. Is it me or is this another shot where the whites could be a bit brighter? Not sure.

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