Results 1 to 29 of 29

Thread: Holiday Gift from Axel... Really!

  1. #1
    Publisher Arthur Morris's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2007
    Location
    Indian Lake Estates, FL
    Posts
    32,557
    Threads
    1,438
    Thank You Posts

    Default Holiday Gift from Axel... Really!

    Attached Images Attached Images
     
    I walked about 3 miles at West End 2 in Jones Beach today without seeing a bird. From a distance this looked a lot like the Snowy Owl I was dreaming of. Then I met Axel in the parking lot. I said, "What have you been doing? He said, "Photographing Snowy Owls." I said "Where"? He said, "Happy Holidays!"

    See next pane to see my gift.
    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.










  2. #2
    Publisher Arthur Morris's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2007
    Location
    Indian Lake Estates, FL
    Posts
    32,557
    Threads
    1,438
    Thank You Posts

    Default

    Attached Images Attached Images
     
    Another three plus miles. 5 1/2 hours of walking. Well worth it.

    Canon 800mm f/5.6 with 1.4X II TC and EOS-1D MIII. ISO 400. Evaluative metering +1 2/3 stops: 1/400 sec. at f/10. One-shoat AF and recompose.

    Don't be shy. All comments welcome. Thanks again for the gift Axel!
    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.










  3. #3
    Forum Participant
    Join Date
    Dec 2007
    Location
    Long Island, New York
    Posts
    6,275
    Threads
    574
    Thank You Posts

    Default

    Ah ha. Very nice.

  4. #4
    BPN Viewer
    Join Date
    Dec 2007
    Location
    Milton Keynes, United Kingdom
    Posts
    1,264
    Threads
    95
    Thank You Posts

    Default

    Nice story :)
    I like the pinkish cast around. The bird eyes don't look sharp to me (at least the left one).
    A dream bird for many of us. :)

    Szimi

  5. #5
    BPN Viewer
    Join Date
    Jan 2008
    Location
    LI, NY
    Posts
    687
    Threads
    52
    Thank You Posts

    Default

    They are elusive little buggers.. sun came out for a little but this am for you.

  6. #6
    Forum Participant
    Join Date
    Jan 2008
    Location
    Grimsby, Ontario, Canada
    Posts
    1,672
    Threads
    216
    Thank You Posts

    Default

    maybe something in the size reduction, doesn't look sharp.. might check the file size? otherwise, a very pretty image.

  7. #7
    BPN Member Tony Whitehead's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2008
    Location
    New Zealand
    Posts
    3,972
    Threads
    142
    Thank You Posts
    Blog Entries
    3

    Default

    Sounds like quite a hike. Glad you had success in the end. I'm on my monitor at work which isn't the best but it does look a little soft.
    Tony Whitehead
    Visit my blog at WildLight Photography for latest news and images.

  8. #8
    Publisher Arthur Morris's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2007
    Location
    Indian Lake Estates, FL
    Posts
    32,557
    Threads
    1,438
    Thank You Posts

    Default

    Attached Images Attached Images
     
    Thanks for pointing out the need for additonal sharpening. The original is beyond tack sharp. I made a new JPEG action and reduced my usual settings in an effort to avoid the rare ghosting... I fixed the action. Let me know if this one looks sharp.
    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
    BPN Viewer
    Join Date
    Jun 2008
    Location
    Northern Michigan
    Posts
    805
    Threads
    85
    Thank You Posts

    Default

    The repost is really nice, like the clean background on this nice composition. I find the left hand upper corner a little distracting. Yes well worth it.

  10. #10
    Axel Hildebrandt
    Guest

    Default

    It's been great meeting you and I'm glad you got to photograph these two species in one day. I like the elusive clam owl in the first image better, very clear contours and shape. :)

    Well, the second one is not so bad, either. :) I like the setting and the additional sharpening does it really justice.

  11. #11
    BPN Member Paul Lagasi's Avatar
    Join Date
    Feb 2008
    Location
    Bells Corners, Ontario, Canada
    Posts
    5,316
    Threads
    642
    Thank You Posts

    Default

    Wow..the second photo just pops out at you...much improved...the eyes seem to be looking right through the viewer, the whites seem brighter...I like how the sand in foreground blends into the background...it takes a sharp eye to spot a Snowy on the ground because they blend in so well with the snow..it takes a sharp eye to spot one or a lucky one. Happy Holidays All

  12. #12
    BPN Member Tony Whitehead's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2008
    Location
    New Zealand
    Posts
    3,972
    Threads
    142
    Thank You Posts
    Blog Entries
    3

    Default

    repost way better - good job.
    Tony Whitehead
    Visit my blog at WildLight Photography for latest news and images.

  13. #13
    Raul Quinones
    Guest

    Default

    Beautiful picture and awesome bird, great improvement in the repost, nice colors and composition.
    Walking 5 1/2 hours with a 800mm and the rest of the gear, WOW!

  14. #14
    BPN Viewer
    Join Date
    Mar 2008
    Location
    Argentina
    Posts
    4,234
    Threads
    215
    Thank You Posts

    Default

    Artie, those grasses in the sorroundings just made my day, love the light, exposure and pose, the only nit is just about PP and that is that I see halos all arround the black spots of the Owl, but that's an easy fix. Congratulaitons and yes, that long walk did payed off!

  15. #15
    Forum Participant Melvin Grey's Avatar
    Join Date
    Feb 2008
    Location
    West Wales, United Kingdom
    Posts
    317
    Threads
    51
    Thank You Posts

    Default

    Nice well composed image - the first one Artie! - the soft lighting has enabled good detail and graduation in the white 'plumage' contrasting nicely with the out of focus BG. Not much doubt about the species - this is the only one I have ever come across with its name printed on its 'chest', certainly saves all that indecision!!! I assume that, as it is only a half bushel, it is still a juvenile? To be really 'picky' I would have cloned out the grass stem coming in from the left and pointing downwards!
    Beautiful Snowy image - it looks like a Christmas present has come early for you on this one, Artie.
    Nice soft tones to the image with the owl well framed by the grass stems. In the re-post those eyes are hypnotic.
    Merry Christmas

  16. #16
    BPN Viewer
    Join Date
    Jan 2008
    Location
    Córdoba, Spain
    Posts
    3,099
    Threads
    211
    Thank You Posts

    Default

    I think that the image of the the "clam" owl (Axelīs words) tells us that a good photographer always try to care about the composition and details in the images he does, no matter if the the subject is an owl or a plastic bucket. The first image is a good example of that: low angle, rule of thirds composition, sharpness a lot of room to show details of the environment. I think that if we are shooting a subject we have to bear uĄin mind that no matter the kind of subject that we are working on but we have to produce a photograph as good as posible.

    Of course, I prefer the repost of the owlīs image a lot but have to agree with Ramón that it is a bit oversharpened with very visible haloes in some areas.
    Very good job Artie

  17. #17
    Publisher Arthur Morris's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2007
    Location
    Indian Lake Estates, FL
    Posts
    32,557
    Threads
    1,438
    Thank You Posts

    Default

    Thanks all. I do see the halos when I tilt the screen back. I will try for something in between. (I just cannot waste the time individually sharpening each JPEG--they take me 1.3 seconds to make with an action.) I actually like the yellow in the u-r-c.

    Juan raised an excellent point--whether a good photographer is taking an image of heir grandkids, a bucket, or a white gyrfalcon in the snow, they will attend carefully to all the necessary details. For me, to do otherwise is insulting to the craft and leads to sloppy technique. +

    Raul, it was much easier to get around with the 8 than with six. Almost two pounds lighter and much slimmer. I was, however, pretty much out of gas for that last mile...

    Now here is a good one. In the next issue of Birder's World they are using a Snowy Owl image of mine that I created on Kodachrome 64 at Jones Beach, West End with the handheld 400mm f/4.5 FD (manual focus) lens and probably the Canon A1. The times have changed... Oh, and get this: 1/125 at f/11.
    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.










  18. #18
    Publisher Arthur Morris's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2007
    Location
    Indian Lake Estates, FL
    Posts
    32,557
    Threads
    1,438
    Thank You Posts

    Default

    Attached Images Attached Images
     
    Well, I will keep trying till I get it right... Is this sharp enough without halos?
    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.










  19. #19
    Jonathan Michael Ashton
    Guest

    Default

    I like the re-post very much, I am curious Artie why did you go for f11 was it to optimise sharpness. The reason I ask is that generally speaking I think your advice is to shoot at widest aperture unless there is a good reason ( I refer to portrait type shots).

    Jon

  20. #20
    Publisher Arthur Morris's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2007
    Location
    Indian Lake Estates, FL
    Posts
    32,557
    Threads
    1,438
    Thank You Posts

    Default

    Well, the last repost looks pretty good, but, I have some interesting observations to share regarding the sharpening of JPEGs in CS3. With unsharp mask, if I sharpen at .2/500, it looks as if there is barely any sharpening being done. If I try .3/500, the image is vastly oversharpened.

    With Smart Sharpen, the same thing happens when you go from .4/500 to .5/500.

    Try it and let me know if I am nuts. (Have been noticing the same thing for years...)
    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.










  21. #21
    Publisher Arthur Morris's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2007
    Location
    Indian Lake Estates, FL
    Posts
    32,557
    Threads
    1,438
    Thank You Posts

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Jonathan Michael Ashton View Post
    I like the re-post very much, I am curious Artie why did you go for f11 was it to optimise sharpness. The reason I ask is that generally speaking I think your advice is to shoot at widest aperture unless there is a good reason ( I refer to portrait type shots). Jon
    Hi Jon, The posted owl was created at f/10. Why? No entirely sure. The 800 with the 1.4 gives you f/8 so I was probably stopping down a bit to increase sharpness (rather than working wide open at f/8.) I have, however, gotten really sharp stuff with the 800 and the 1.4 at f/8.
    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.










  22. #22
    Jeff Nadler
    Guest

    Default

    The little bit of oof vegetation over the bird, is fine and adds depth and habitat feel, but usually someone posts, "too bad about that." I bring it up only as an observed feature of the image that to me, is not a nit, normally someone makes a nit out of it, but did not here. Great image. On my list of top five birds Artie.

  23. #23
    BPN Viewer
    Join Date
    Jan 2008
    Location
    Lakeville, MN
    Posts
    1,381
    Threads
    150
    Thank You Posts

    Default

    Good job with the re-worked eyes on your follow up post! I wish Jones beach was near me. :)

  24. #24
    Dan O'Leary
    Guest

    Default

    I have seen the same behavior in both unsharp mask and smart sharpen, though I typically work around .2/115 and .3/135 in smart sharpen for BPN posts at 1024x800. Usually .3 is too high for my tastes. This is for CS3.

  25. #25
    Leroy Laverman
    Guest

    Default

    Attached Images Attached Images
     
    The reposts with additional sharpening are an improvement but the halos are still present. Areas with strong contrast need less sharpening than in lower contrast regions. If you sharpen for the low contrast areas halos abound. If you sharpen for the high contrast areas you have a softer image. The solution? Copy the image to a new layer and sharpen it for the lower contrast areas as normal. Then right click (PC version) on the sharpened layer and select 'blending options' Change the sliders on the bottom so something like in the image here. (To split the slider hold the Alt key whilst dragging the slider). What this does is prevents sharpening at the extreme ends of the tonal range. By splitting the sliders there is a fade from no sharpening for extrememe dark and light values to full sharpening for midtones. Using this method one can apply heavy sharpening and still avoid halos.

  26. #26
    Publisher Arthur Morris's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2007
    Location
    Indian Lake Estates, FL
    Posts
    32,557
    Threads
    1,438
    Thank You Posts

    Default

    Thanks a ton for the tutorial Leroy. I will need to study it while working the image.

    New question: are halos only a problem with JPEGs or can they occur in TIFFs that are being sharpened for printing (keeping in mind that the advise for sharpening large files for print is to sharpen until they look oversharpened a bit on the monitor...)
    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.










  27. #27
    Leroy Laverman
    Guest

    Default

    If one looks at what sharpening is really doing, it is intentionally creating halos at edges. The halos give the appearance of increased sharpness while resolution remains the same. The goal is to make the halos small enough that they aren't noticeable in the final viewing arrangement. This is a bit tough for web display since you can't control viewing distance, monitor size, ambient light etc.. TIFF files that have been sharpened will show halos as well if oversharpened.

    I picked the above tip from Bruce Fraser's book "Real World Image Sharpening in Adobe Photoshop CS2". I really learned a lot from this small book and use an action for sharpening through edge masks that he describes. Apparently this is the basis behind the PhotoKit sharpening actions that one can purchase. It's quite useful and painless once the action is recorded.

    Prints are usually viewed from further away than a monitor and the print paper itself is not as crisp as a monitor (especially an LCD) which is why one should oversharpen some on screen for final output. I know of one person that worked professionally in the photo industry and they had a set of charts that gave optimum halo size for a given image. The image size and viewing distance were taken into account to give the best sharpening settings. Halos can be much larger if the photo is intended to be viewed from across the room.

  28. #28
    BPN Viewer
    Join Date
    Jan 2008
    Location
    Germany
    Posts
    55
    Threads
    12
    Thank You Posts

    Default

    Artie,

    Quote Originally Posted by Arthur Morris View Post
    Thanks for pointing out the need for additonal sharpening. The original is beyond tack sharp. I made a new JPEG action and reduced my usual settings in an effort to avoid the rare ghosting... I fixed the action. Let me know if this one looks sharp.
    The picture looks sharper now but I have the impressions that the white in the face is a little to white on my screen I used PS CS3 and the Shadow/Highlight function and applied 15% in the highlights and this boosts the picture for me.

    Peter

  29. #29
    Publisher Arthur Morris's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2007
    Location
    Indian Lake Estates, FL
    Posts
    32,557
    Threads
    1,438
    Thank You Posts

    Default

    Thanks Leroy for the excellent information.
    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.










Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •  
Web Analytics