Cormorant Portrait + REPOST

Gallery: AvianPosted January 12, 20151,169 views2 comments

This bird let me get quite close, as it seemed pretty comfortable on its log near the lake shore, Green Lake Park, Seattle. In post-processing I modified the background by hand blending the heavily dark-streaked water into a softer sun-kissed version. The bird is as photographed, and the image is cropped 40% from the original.

Panasonic Lumix GH3, HH; f8, 1/100, ISO 640, +1.33 ev.

Thanks for offering your thoughts.

Comments

2 comments

Comment posted by Kurt Bowman on January 12, 2015 at 10:23 PM

Catherine, I like the crop on this portrait. I also like the clean BG. Not sure how well the IQ held up to the larger crop or if it might be the slow SS, but the head looks like it needs another round of sharpening. I might also be tempted to bump up the contrast a tad.

Registered on June 19, 2008, 1005 Posts, 8028 Comments

Comment posted by Catherine Reilly on January 13, 2015 at 5:22 AM

Thanks for applying your critical eye, Kurt. I tried a fix according to your comments and wonder how it looks now.

The camera/lens setup I use for long telephoto work is micro 4/3. The lens has good enough reach most of the time but the IQ is not as good as the big glass primes. And you're quite right that I didn't have enough ss for hand-holding. A compromise necessary so the ISO doesn't get too high. Anyway, some sacrifices made, but at least I can carry it around and lift it and shoot it!

Registered on August 16, 2006, 603 Posts, 9192 Comments