Description: Still rooting around deleting junk and I found this one, from 2014. I was trying for ducks at a local pond with limited success when I spotted this. It merited re-processing with today’s tools.
Specific Feedback Requested:
All comments welcome!
Pertinent technical details or techniques:
Canon 5D3, 600mm f/4 + 2X, ISO 1600, f/9.5, 1/4000 sec. No idea how I got that SS – must have bumped a dial in my excitement to capture this blindingly fast object. Minimal adjustments in LR but did go back and reprocess with a linear profile. Into PS for Topaz DeNoise and a B/W adjustment layer. Cloned out only one thing – a water droplet was giving a strange rainbow colored refraction or something like that.
Is this a composite? (focus stacks or exposure blends are not considered composites)
No
I saw this on the phone and gave it a googly eyes tag and now I see it larger nothing has changed. You just keep pulling gems out of the hard drive and I can’t help but wonder what other treasures you have hidden away.
Interesting choice to turn this monochrome. Looks like a perfect blue sky reflected here and I’m curious why you decided to turn that off. The square crop suits the U curve of the feather and the details are lovely (including the water droplets you left in the photo). It speaks of delicacy - feathers can be fragile, but are also tough and resilient. It also seems to float in air as well as on water which speaks to the act of flight and how we humans envy it. Sublime.
Thanks, @Kris_Smith – the light was soft (apparently in the shade) and although there was the blue-brown thing going on, somehow B/W seemed to fit, to further simplify it. Here’s the unadjusted raw file. And I’m thinking now that I like it with a bit more room, still some crop but with a more horizontal aspect ratio.
Hi Diane, when I first saw this I immediately thought “Forest Gump.” I really like the B&W version, but the color one is striking too. I think I would crop the color one from the left to move the feather off center and give the right end of the feather more room on the right. It’s a very cool image.
Diane, I’m glad you are digging through your archives. This is a nice image, and I like both the color and the B&W, but I think the B&W does work well for this image. The square crop works well for me too. I love how the feather is in a bow shape, and just floating on the nice smooth water, allowing the reflections of even the water drops on the feather to be reflected. Nice.
Thanks guys! @David_Bostock, yes, the color version with a rectangular format would need to have the subject placed off-center, a bit toward the left, but not so far as to be a slave to the rule of thirds as there is no counterbalancing detail. A bit off the top and bottom, too – just a little.
Diane: This caught my attention. A great find and capture. I’ll be the contrarian and say I prefer the color if presented in the same format as the B&W. The color just gives it more interest for this color junkie. Terrific either way. Most excellent. >=))>
Thanks everyone! @David_Bostock, I’m posting a color version with a rectangular crop. I’ll put it next to the original for comparison. @Bill_Fach and @Shirley_Freeman, I could like this framed the same as the original, too.
