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What nice eyes you have + addition
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What nice eyes you have + addition

by Sandy Scott

Gallery: Macro & Close-upPosted December 25, 201394 views4 comments
I am posting this in the macro category for two reasons 1) I think it qualifies under the 4 inch rule and it certainly is a close up and 2) I just don't think it would fly (pun intended) in the avian category for a couple of reasons which I will not bother to go into.

My mission here was to focus in on the incredible eyes - especially the right eye highlighted by the morning rising sun, of this mature black-crowned night heron. I love the contrast of the vibrant eye color with the rest of the scene. I specifically and willfully went for a narrow DOF in that I was not interested in the distraction of a focused beak. Shot from a unique angle with a very specific mission and this shot came out exactly as I intended it. Now it might not be everyone's taste, but it definitely is mine!

Shot with a Canon 100-400 L lens at 400mm, f5.6, 1/200, ISO 320. The morning sun was just starting to bath the scene.

Comments

4 comments
Comment posted by Rick Turner on December 26, 2013 at 12:32 PM
Nice concept on these wary birds. Some selective noise reduction to background is my suggestion. Nik Define 2 is a great program for that. :toast:
Noise in green is always a issue.
Registered on February 18, 2012, 534 Posts, 2755 Comments
Comment posted by Sandy Scott on December 26, 2013 at 1:47 PM
Rick, thanks so much for the input. My beginner eye does not even notice these things, but I revisited the shot with my iMac 27 and sure enough, I now see the noise. I have checked out Nik Define and will look into it further. I have done some tweaking to the background and wonder if it helps or hinders? Thanks so much for helping me in my learning process.
Registered on December 6, 2013, 85 Posts, 345 Comments
Comment posted by Ed Williams on December 26, 2013 at 7:49 PM
The eyes have it Sandy. Cool perspective and fantastic focus on those bright eyes. Nice cleanup on the noise issue also.
Registered on December 28, 2010, 636 Posts, 3499 Comments
Comment posted by Sandy Scott on December 26, 2013 at 8:35 PM
Thanks Ed, I appreciate it - I was hoping that I was not the only one who liked this perspective and DOF approach to the shot. I would not even have noticed the noise had Rick not been nice enough to call my attention to it. Quite a learning experience here on the forum!
Registered on December 6, 2013, 85 Posts, 345 Comments