The photographer is looking for generalized feedback about the aesthetic and technical qualities of their image.
Description
The other day I went out on an undeveloped lake about an hour north of me and had a wonderful time with this heron. It was hunting on the side in the grasses and plants and I have a few stills like this one, and a lot of video of it stalking, striking, missing, catching and preening. Even take offs when it flew from one spot to another. So much to edit!
Anyway, I liked this pose and was really happy I got a preening shot with the eye visible. A lot of times they appear headless and weird. It isn’t a perfect shot since the kayak was moving a bit in the wind and there was some atmospheric haze between us. However, that swath of red in the foliage just makes such a nice contrast to the bluish feathers and the green in the rest of the bushes that I had to see if I could make it worth posting.
Specific Feedback
Did I? Any problems or issues that need addressing?
Technical Details
Handheld in the kayak
Freewell 1-stop ND filter & CPL
Lr for initial work to wb, colors, contrast and a bit of a crop. Topaz Sharpen to bring up detail in the bird. Layered that with the original file in Photoshop and applied a mask to isolate the bird and added a curves layer for more contrast. Added a blur layer to reduce the effect of the bg since it was rather close to the bird. Used a brush at varying opacities to paint it in where needed.
Wow, Kristen. Hand holding that lens in a kiayak is an acomplisment. The warmth of the colors in the background and the blue of the feathers complement each other beautifully. I wonder if the amount of background is competing with the bird. A vertial crop that allowed the bird to take the stage and not compete with the bright background would get the viewer to study the beautiful detaial in the feathers and see that eye. Just a thought.
Hi Kris. Nice job on the heron. It looks plenty sharp at this scale. I thought about a vertical as well when I was looking at it, but you might want all that background-personal choice there. You might also consider adding some blur to the trees in the far background to give the image a bit more depth and keep their texture from competing with the rest of the image.
Hi again. Finally finished up a short video of this heron going about its heron-y business. Any thoughts on the final product are welcome. I’m by no means an expert videographer, but I have improved and try to work in some new techniques with every project. Mostly this is in the edit process, but sometimes I figure out better field techniques as well and will always employ those. Video from a kayak is a challenge no matter what conditions, but for this bird I did the best I could.
Oh, Kris, this is really nice. I love the shots, but really enjoyed the video. I never think to take video when out with the birds! Got to remember to do that. Great job!!!
Thanks @Shirley_Freeman - I’ve been doing more and more video in the last two years in an effort to expand my ability to tell the story of the place. I’m not sure that I could have done the same without moving pictures of the bird doing its thing. The stills are great and will remain the bulk of telling the story, but sometimes video does it better. There is an updated version of my camera shipping later this year and the video capabilities are greatly expanded. I’ll keep the G9 I have, but add the MK2 for just this situation.
