Posted by Graeme Lee on August 22, 2007 at 6:24 PM
Similar image to a previous post, actually part of the same sequence, but I have blurred the BG to give a bit more pop. Is this acceptable in the purist world? I never touch the BG's usually, certainly not to this degree and it's something I feel strangely wrong about doing.
Be interested in your opinions
Graeme
1d2, 500/4is + 1.4x, tripod. Cropped to 60% of full frame
Posted by Rob Howard on August 22, 2007 at 7:14 PM
Hi Graeme,
The BG to me does not look like it has been done in CS. So I have no problem with it. The image is very good and I am a bit envious, as these birds are a bit of a bogey for me!!
Comp and colours are spot on as is the sharpness.
I may be a bit of an oddity in the natural history photography world but for me, NH photography isn't about 'simple' record shots, (..."here is bird A, here is bird B etc etc"...) but about artistic and aesthetic representation of the natural world.
If blurring the background makes the image more aesthetically pleasing (without destroying the fundemental 'truth' of an image) then so be it.
Personally, I'd like to see the background even more OOF but I think that may be tricky given that there is already a little loss of detail on the edge of tail feathers
Great action shot of a wonderful bird (one of my faves)
To blur background is fine with me for the same reason Barrie wrote about. In this representation it looks slightly overdone, especially around lower wing. Wing just jump out of the background a bit too much, me thinks.
Cheers,
Marko
Posted by Andy Astbury on August 23, 2007 at 2:51 AM
Nothing wrong with blurring a BG Graeme - that's no where near as bad a 'crime' as cloning something out of an image completely
Wait until you've got CS3 up and running - the quick selection and edge refinement tools will make the job easier and a lot more refined!
Within reason I don't mind, it has to be well done, so often people overdo it, the lens blur filter does a much nicer job than the oft used gaussian, not too bad a job here, it is slightly obvious... I would expect the grass at the bottom to get less OOF closer to the camera.
Discussion
5 repliesBe interested in your opinions
Graeme
1d2, 500/4is + 1.4x, tripod. Cropped to 60% of full frame
The BG to me does not look like it has been done in CS. So I have no problem with it. The image is very good and I am a bit envious, as these birds are a bit of a bogey for me!!
Comp and colours are spot on as is the sharpness.
Good work
Regards
Rob
I may be a bit of an oddity in the natural history photography world but for me, NH photography isn't about 'simple' record shots, (..."here is bird A, here is bird B etc etc"...) but about artistic and aesthetic representation of the natural world.
If blurring the background makes the image more aesthetically pleasing (without destroying the fundemental 'truth' of an image) then so be it.
Personally, I'd like to see the background even more OOF but I think that may be tricky given that there is already a little loss of detail on the edge of tail feathers
Great action shot of a wonderful bird (one of my faves)
Barrie
Cheers,
Marko
Wait until you've got CS3 up and running - the quick selection and edge refinement tools will make the job easier and a lot more refined!
Good cap BTW
All the best