06-27-12 – Birds 2: Boid Watching

and Green Heron get my vote, Barracuda (bastid…now I wantz a green heron!).

Just got back from the park again, saw the green heron again, but no additional shots of him. you and your comment over on G+ about big glass made me wonder what I could get with the 300mm + doubler, so now I’m sorting through another 50 frames or so. Nothing really great, the herons were all deep in the bush finding shade, in fact pretty much everything was finding shade being that it was noon and 95 degrees out. A few of a couple of a chineese goose, but not much else.

Not only isn’t there internet where we’re staying, my wife can’t even make a call on her iPhone.

It’s not completely out of civilization, but it’s close.

Mutually contradictory statements.

It’s not completely out of civilization, but it’s close.
We’re actively talking about moving here 😉

Back in the ADK? 😀 I do miss living there. And yes, it is remote. Take lots of photos and be safe.

The only thing I miss from new york is my friends.

I hear you Uranus. I’ve spent ten times more time on this contest than any other and finally have chosen my three entries and am left with 17 bees. I probably spend 70% of my time photographing birds and am always learning. I looked back at photos I took last year and can’t believe how crappy they are, so hopefully I’m learning something by doing it so much.

Great, now I’m second guessing my choices again!

I’ve only in the past year gotten to the point where I’m happy with some of my bird images. Due to a lack of variety where I’ve frequented for them I’ll have a blue heron as one of my three, and no predatory birds (which I fear are the ones that will get the most votes; my one osprey just isn’t quite clear enough for my tastes). I do have a cute one of a stilt with it’s chick that I hope does okay, though.

If you’re looking for more blue herons or more predatory birds, you really need to come hang with me on a few excursions…

Birds just ain’t my thing – I do shoot them occasionally, but they’re not what I really go looking for most of the time.

I need some advice from you guys.

I feel that I am decent in the department of TAKING the pictures.

In the area of post processing however, I am as lost as a Farker at a health food convention.

I tried to do some modifications on this picture: http://i987.photobucket.com/albums/ae353/jpw173/Farktography/P6232624.jpg (Yes, that bird IS alive)

Here is the result of the processing. I worked only on the saturation, color, hue, and brightness/contrast:http://i987.photobucket.com/albums/ae353/jpw173/Farktography/BetterFalcom.jpg

Am I doing this right, or should I see if I can find a class on image processing?

Thanks!!

Making my choices caused me chest pain. “Oooooo, I could use THAT one too!”

Can we increase the limit for this theme to, say, about 50 entries?

Am I doing this right, or should I see if I can find a class on image processing?

Thanks!!

So much depends on what program you are using to Post. (Personally, I cannot recommend Adobe Lightroom enough, it is powerful, non-destructive and not hideously expensive.) The Sat bump in the second image, IMHO was a bit much, a subtle increase in contrast would serve better to make the colors pop, the pink tones of the lighting take away from the overall effect. (Also you can play with your White Balance if you shot in RAW.

What you do in post is largely as process of personal preference and experimentation. Sink the money into Lightroom or a comparable program and just play with the settings until you see what you like, the original image is unchanged.