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#551-Early Morning Egret
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#551-Early Morning Egret

by Barbara Graham

Gallery: Weekly ChallengePosted September 9, 2012176 views5 comments
I did a Photo Art version of this about a year ago and really magnified the oranges and blues. I would like to have a good non-Photo Art version of the image but am not sure whether that's possible and not sure how to process it if it is possible. Here I've used Levels to bring up the whiteness in the bird a but, but not too much, because that would be too unrealistic with the light as it was in this very early morning.

Comments, opinions and feedback would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you!

Comments

5 comments
Comment posted by Barry Vangrov on September 10, 2012 at 11:07 AM
Very nice. The head and neck kind of blend in with the background water. Maybe you can lighten them a bit a add some separation.
Registered on September 1, 2009, 148 Posts, 749 Comments
Comment posted by Carolyn Derstine on September 10, 2012 at 1:06 PM
Hey, I remember this shot, Barbara! :smile: I like this more realistic version you posted here. Great colors in this photo and nice comp. Your DOF choice looks good too. I think the lighting is good for an early dawn shot but I agree with Barry. Maybe doing a selection of the head and neck of the egret and experimenting with slightly brightening those areas may help make the bird more the focus. The head is what we would expect to see most clearly in a shot like this. Nice capture!
Registered on February 16, 2011, 610 Posts, 3684 Comments
Comment posted by RL Potts on September 10, 2012 at 3:54 PM
If this bird was more immaculate, I might go with the consensus. Its head is rather raggedy. This does however have some small amount of rim lighting. I would at least try a vertical crop and kicking up the contrast to see what I could get out of this, more like a silhouette. Maybe that is what you did with the first version. I don't know.
Registered on November 24, 2003, 188 Posts, 985 Comments
Comment posted by Mark Seaver on September 11, 2012 at 4:05 PM
You can't bring up the whiteness too much with out blowing out the reflections in the water and the rim highlights on the egret. This is very nice as presented with the lovely colored reflections and the oof breakers in the background. The bird is well positioned in the frame and is easy to see.
Registered on January 23, 2011, 1103 Posts, 17270 Comments
Comment posted by Craig Myers on September 18, 2012 at 12:51 AM
Nice contrast of warm and cool tones. I like the subtle rim lighting on the edret.
Registered on September 1, 2008, 85 Posts, 757 Comments