The Fishermen

Gallery: AvianPosted February 10, 201659 views7 comments

I clearly have the itch to be back in Florida, as I keep digging through the pictures lately from prior February trips there. Happens to a lot of Canadian photographers mid-winter. angel

Always kind of liked this one but never processed it until now. I've included a colour version below just to get your feedback on which you prefer, but as the Black and White appears as the main post, I guess you know which way I lean. enlightened

There was actually a 4th heron fishing when I spotted these guys, but he nabbed a talapia and flew off while I was getting my tripod set up.

As always, thanks in advance for your time, comments, critiques and suggestions! Please view the larger version for best detail if you have time.

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Nikon D600
Nikkor AF-S 500mm f/4D IF-ED
ISO 400
1/500sec @ f/6.3
+0.66 stop overexposed from meter
Mounted on FEISOL CT-3372 Elite tripod with Acratech GV2 ballhead and Wimberley Sidekick
Nearly full frame width, cropped from top and (barely from) bottom for pano presentation

Comments

7 comments

Comment posted by John Launstein on February 10, 2016 at 12:02 PM

Here's the colour version. I was thinking B&W when I composed the shot because of the high-key backlit water and textures in the grasses, so it's always hard for me to leave that initial "creation inspiration" behind. Thanks for your input, though...it helps to get other perspectives!

Registered on April 5, 2011, 223 Posts, 1193 Comments

Comment posted by Hans Overduin on February 10, 2016 at 12:41 PM

Hello John, another fine image from your hand. I love the panorama crop, the set-up of the frame and the overall atmosphere. In my opinion this image works well in both B&W and color. I have been looking at them both three times, and cannot make up my mind.. I understand your feel for B&W due to the light etc, but the greens come out pretty nicely as well... Well, at any rate: good that you processed the image finally cool

. Cheers, Hans

Registered on August 31, 2011, 491 Posts, 3807 Comments

Comment posted by Dennis Plank on February 10, 2016 at 1:00 PM

Hi John. I think I favor the B&W here as the tonality seems to work well. I do wish that bush hadn't been behind the two forward Herons as it seems to interfere with the flow of the image.

devil

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

Comment posted by Wayne Jones on February 10, 2016 at 1:15 PM

This is beautiful in both B&W and color, but for some reason, the B&W version seems to have a more powerful effect on me.
I am big fan of panoramic compositions, and this is certainly is an effective one. The balance and inclusion of reflections is superb.

P.S. Speaking of thinking about being in Florida this time of year, I live fairly close to the Canadian border, and a couple of weeks ago, I had the chance to compare a sunny day shot from my yard with a shot that a friend made in southern Florida on the same day, same time of day, also in full sunlight. We used identical cameras at the same focal length, but the Florida shot was at ISO 400; 1/4000 sec. @ f/5.6 -- and my northern NY shot was ISO 1250; 1/640 sec. @ f/6.3. We are practically shooting in the dark up here in the winter!

Registered on April 18, 2007, 953 Posts, 6435 Comments

Comment posted by Jim DeWitt on February 10, 2016 at 3:43 PM

Nice, John; cool to see the Great Blues grouped like this. I'm a color guy myself. But in a bigger sense, I don't think the big empty area on the left adds that much to the shot. Composition choices are intensely personal. So take that with a grain of salt.

Registered on August 28, 2006, 1240 Posts, 8506 Comments

Comment posted by David Schoen on February 10, 2016 at 7:17 PM

Another vote for BW. I also find the brush between the two herons a little disjointing but it is still an interesting image just the same. I can see the herons saying to themselves: " OK, what do we do now?"

Registered on November 6, 2006, 1213 Posts, 4587 Comments

Comment posted by Lucy Aron on February 18, 2016 at 11:34 PM

I'm usually strongly biased towards b & w but for some inexplicable reason I like the color better here. Agree with David's comment about the brush between the two birds a bit distracting. Nice way the lines in the foliage and birds leads the eye around.

Registered on February 25, 2011, 189 Posts, 1160 Comments