Refinery bird

[dadas115]

I took this on the TX City dike Saturday evening. I thought it was sort of interesting and would like to know what others think.

Equipment:

Canon EOS 20D w/EF 500mm f/4L IS and 1.4x II TC hand held
f/5.6, 1/30 sec shutter speed

Thanks,

Greg

[OldSchool]

Hey Greg,

I like this. It's neat how you caught both your bird submissions staring straight at ya. What I like about this is the juxtaposition of nature and the machines needed to support civilization. -- and this is a hard thing to capture along the ship channel there. How does it look if you saturate the colors more?

BR,
Tim

[readingr]

I like the juxtaposition. I like the photo as is but keep thinking perhaps it would look a little better with more as Tim suggests.

Did you really tie the bird to the pole? I find superglue much easier :-)

[jar_e]

Great shot, and what a beak on that sucker! Lovely shot, and I think a slight color boost might be needed, but I do enjoy the colors of the lights on the left hand side. Nice shot. Good copmosition and lovely shot!

Jared

[LeeIs]

lovely shot. A tad more colour like suggested above could add a bit more to this image but it might not. I like it as is. I wish the bird was a bit sharper though. The bird's pose is gorgeous, it's body turned parralel to the canvas and it's head towards us.

[dadas115]

Thanks for the comments. I went back and tried to boost the color some but am not really liking the results I have been getting. I think the problem is that it was foggy out when I took the picture and that really reduced the overall contrast of the scene and caused the colors to become a bit washed out. The version that I posted was a bit of a compromise between loss of detail from boosting contrast and washed-out colors. The fog might have caused the sharpness problem as well but it is tough to say. In any case the conditions were pretty bad as I could only get 1/30 sec shutter speed at ISO 800. At 100% the bird looks reasonably sharp (isn't going to win any sharpness contests). Now that I look at the picture some more I don’t exactly like the neck position of the bird.

If anyone can do better with the contrast/color I would love to see the result.

Thanks again,

Greg

[OldSchool]

Hi Greg,

One thing to try is USM with a very large radius. I don't know which software you use, but USM with a very large radius, mild strength, and no clipping tends to "clarify" the image and bring out detail. Play with it some. It may or may not help...

Tim

Thanks for the comments. I went back and tried to boost the color some but am not really liking the results I have been getting. I think the problem is that it was foggy out when I took the picture and that really reduced the overall contrast of the scene and caused the colors to become a bit washed out. The version that I posted was a bit of a compromise between loss of detail from boosting contrast and washed-out colors. The fog might have caused the sharpness problem as well but it is tough to say. In any case the conditions were pretty bad as I could only get 1/30 sec shutter speed at ISO 800. At 100% the bird looks reasonably sharp (isn't going to win any sharpness contests). Now that I look at the picture some more I don’t exactly like the neck position of the bird.

If anyone can do better with the contrast/color I would love to see the result.

Thanks again,

Greg

[dadas115]

Thanks for the tip, I will give it a try.

Greg

[Paul Wolf]

Greg:
I really like the composition, but sadly I think three things may be working against you: The fog, especially if the distance between you and the pelican was substantial; the high ISO (yep, even on a 20d); and hand holding the lens at 1/30 second.

You can't do much about the fog, and in fact I think you've dealt with it the best you can. The high ISO is a problem due to the noise, as you know. It can, in certain circumstances, fool the eye into making a photo more sharp than it really is, but I really don't like to see it when I shoot birds and landscapes; it very seldom works well. The hand holding, of course, could be corrected with the tripod, but I have to say, the fact that you did this well with that lens AND a teleconverter is remarkable. I can't shoot a 400 mm IS lens at less than about 1/300 second to have any chance of sharpness.

I don't know; maybe the image can be salvaged, but trying to boost the contrast will only draw out more noise in the shadows and probably emphasize the fog too much. Well, at least now you have an excuse to go back and try it again, because I think the wildlife juxtaposed against the refinery is a shot that has to be taken - just under better conditions, perhaps.

Paul

[dadas115]

Unfortunately tripod isn’t really an option when you are waste-deep in the surf so it is hand-hold or nothing.

Thanks for your comments.

Greg

[OldSchool]

It's a nice shot. Pleasing to my eye. And it makes a statement.

[Tuna]

My favorite of the latest few you have posted. Nice job.

Tuna

[LeeIs]

If anyone can do better with the contrast/color I would love to see the result.

Thanks again,

Greg

Here's an attempt by moi, Greg. Miinor changes to the levels, sharpness & the neck.

[dadas115]

I like what you have done here. That neck sticking out was really starting to bother me as I looked at the picture more and more.

Thanks very much,

Greg