Caribbean Dove

Gallery: AvianPosted January 26, 201154 views9 comments

Caribbean Dove (Leptotila jamaicensis)

This photo was taken in the Queen Elizabeth II Botanic Park, Grand Cayman in December 2010. The range of this species includes the coast of Mexico as well as Grand Cayman and Jamaica. I saw it twice: both times it was rooting around in leaves on the ground. It was quite dark so I used my fill flash.

It seemed to me that in this case the foreground was interesting and showed habitat. The background though, especially a dark branch behind the bird, was quite distracting. Furthermore, the flash illuminated the background more than the foreground. (I think this had to do with the aim of my Better Beamer). I'll post the original below (processed up to but not including the changes mentioned next) so you can see what I mean. In the image above I've increased exposure on the foreground and blurred the background (using Bokeh 2 to simulate a Nikon 50 mm f/1.4 at f/1.4…a fun thing to do when using a Canon lens!). I explored the alternative of cloning out the offending branch. However, I think blurring messes around with nature less than generating new rock behind the bird via cloning! Using Bokeh I explored allowing some transitioning here from focused to blurred too.

All comments very welcome.

1D Mark IV, 100-400 mm f/4.5-5.6, 580EXII, Better Beamer, hand held : 350 mm, ISO 800, 1/800 s, f/8.0, 0 EV, 10.7 MP after cropping, usual NR, exposure adjustment, sharpening along with processing mentioned above.

Comments

9 comments

Comment posted by Steve Balke on January 26, 2011 at 6:12 PM

Here is the original of the above image. Note the dark foreground and branch "growing out" of the bird.

Registered on June 18, 2009, 229 Posts, 2915 Comments

Comment posted by Scott Frye on January 26, 2011 at 8:22 PM

I ilke the colors especailly the pink around the neck. Looks like the tail if clipped so I would wish for a bit more rrom on the right

Registered on February 3, 2007, 387 Posts, 1136 Comments

Comment posted by Steve Balke on January 26, 2011 at 8:51 PM

Scott, before posting, I wondered if the tail might be clipped. So, you have good reason to suggest that. However, close inspection (see close-up posted above) shows that the "tail" we see clipped is most likely a branch. Also, looking at other images of this species I don't think the tail could be long enough to be clipped in this image. So, I think the room at the rihs is o.k. as posted. Of course, I welcome any opinions on this.

Registered on June 18, 2009, 229 Posts, 2915 Comments

Comment posted by Dennis Plank on January 26, 2011 at 9:49 PM

Beautiful job on the post processing of what was already a fine image, Steve. I like the soft lighting effect you obtained.

Registered on January 28, 2008, 1767 Posts, 23192 Comments

Comment posted by Howard Cheek on January 26, 2011 at 10:40 PM

Very nice Steve, this is a great low-key image. Excellent color and details, what a beautiful looking dove they have there in the Grand Caymen.
You really seem to be getting the hang of that Bokeh 2 software..I have it in my Adobe program now, but haven't used it much. I'm taking notes, may have a question or two coming your way if I get stuck

Well done

Registered on July 24, 2008, 1201 Posts, 10758 Comments

Comment posted by Ron Bielefeld on January 27, 2011 at 7:06 AM

Overall, an interesting image Steve. Although I can tell the bird was flashed, it looks pretty natural and in the light you had you had not other choice. Bird looks sharp too. IMO the image really did not need any blurring of the BG as the bird stands out nicely in the second, "original" image. However, you use of Boken to blurr the dark branch worked well rather than cloning. If this were mine, I might have restricted the use of Boken to just the dark branch thus keeping the manipulation of this nice image to a minimum. Just a thought.

Registered on December 6, 2008, 360 Posts, 7132 Comments

Comment posted by Brian Gatlin on January 27, 2011 at 8:26 AM

interesting, Steve, it's great that you're posting the originals so we can see the stuff you're doing. that bokeh software really produces cool results. I agree with Ron, that the dark branch against the paler green right behind the bird is the only thing I find objectionable in the original. but, I think the finished product looks quite nice.

Registered on March 21, 2009, 202 Posts, 4187 Comments

Comment posted by Monica Siri on January 27, 2011 at 1:11 PM

Steve,
I really like this bird and the setting too. Excellent the original and even more the pp image.

Registered on September 20, 2009, 132 Posts, 3764 Comments

Comment posted by Steve Balke on January 28, 2011 at 8:22 PM

Thank you, everyone. Your comments really help me to think about this post-processing. Howard, sure, I'd be happy to answer questions from you or any of you who are experimenting with Bokeh 2. Ron and Brian: interesting thought about blurring only the offending branch. It would certainly leave more of the original image in the posted version. However, in general, blurring just one object amongst sharper (not distracting) objects would look pretty strange when we know what to expect by way of blur resulting from DOF. Also, I feel fine about blurring the whole background to access the one object. That is, the original image quality from the camera is not something that I feel a need to retain. Like I said, your comments sure have me thinking about all this!

Registered on June 18, 2009, 229 Posts, 2915 Comments