January 3, 2015 in Orange County California in the shadow of offices in an urban area. After a four year respite we now have a few of these visiting southern California this year. Photographing them close to home is a treat. This was shot in the shadows on a very early, but clear and sunny, morning. While making sense of the whites and blacks for these birds is a challenge, we worked on this image last night during my lesson and I hope you like it. It has a very slight crop; we did nothing else to the image. There was no noise reduction or sharpening. We elected to keep the bubbles in the water since they tell a part of the story. His eye is untouched. By the way, after great difficulty and much re-positioning, he got this fish, which is much larger than the photo shows, down.
Nikon D4 ISO400 1/800 f/7.1 RAW Manual White Balance Auto Shot from a tripod and gimbal sitting on the ground through the bushes. (it was worth it.) Processed in Lightroom,Photoshopcc2014, NIK and TK.
Thanks for your comments. They mean a lot to me and are an important part of my growth as a photographer. Didn't Fleetwood Mac have a song, "You make things fun"?
Comments
8 commentsThanks for your comment. If it were possible to get a lower angle I would have. It was a very steep bank and I positioned myself sitting with my legs around a plant about 5 feet from the water. If I had set up any lower, I could not have kept myself and my equipment out of the water, and as it was I wondered if a dip was in my future.
I like the blue tone on the water, as well as the reflection. Great image.
Love this image. You've handled the whites and the blacks well indeed. This pond seems to be full of bluegill. :)
The water color and blur is very nice. As has been mentioned the POV is not the best as you are shooting down on him but a swim in the drink with gear is never what the doctor orders. Great image Patrick.