Common tern, looking back


Posted by matt kuchta on Sun Aug 24, 2003 1:41 pm

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This is the same photo as some of you have seen, with a slightly different crop and a few other adjustments, such as the wider format. These are fairly rare in our state, so I was tickled that a couple of pairs used the lake near my house as a hangout.

Common Tern
Sterna hirundo
Image


10D, 1-4IS @ 400, handheld, sitting in the water (again)
1/2500
f5.6
Exp -2/3
ISO 200

I was also on AI Servo, instead of one-shot since I was shooting flying gulls and terns at the time - this guy decided to stop flying around and I didn't change the settings. (Next time I'll add some FF, open up about 2/3, and go to iso100 with one-shot so I can focus on the head and not the back).

4*6 aspect crop in PS, a bit of levels, saturation, boost in contrast, and some USM. Resized and used the clone stamp to tone down the most obvious sharpening halos.

Cheers,
-matt
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by Richard Ditch on Sun Aug 24, 2003 1:47 pm
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A flawless image IMO.

Well done.
 

by Alan Melle on Sun Aug 24, 2003 1:58 pm
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I agree with Rich. This is about as well done as they get. Excellent work.
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by Alan Murphy on Sun Aug 24, 2003 2:02 pm
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Matt,

as others have said, its perfect. I wish it was mine.

Alan
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by LHays on Sun Aug 24, 2003 2:31 pm
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Wow....it looks pretty darned good to me.
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by Juan E. Bahamon on Sun Aug 24, 2003 2:47 pm
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Matt:

Superb, I love the saturated beak and legs. Congratulations.
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by Marc Oliver on Sun Aug 24, 2003 3:29 pm
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Very, very nice!

Rather than using the Clone Stamp to tone down sharpening halos try the History Brush - it will give you more control. Just go to your History Palette and click the lefthand side of your previous step (the one just before sharpening) and a little History Brush icon should appear next to it. Now go to your toolbar and select the History Brush and start painting the previous (non-sharpened) state into your sharpened picture - no need to watch where you're cloning from and you can adjust your brush opacity to get rid of the halos as much or as little as you need.

cheers, Oliver
 

by Sandy Mossberg on Sun Aug 24, 2003 3:36 pm
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Matt, despite your protests, this image could hardly be better. Just figure out how to do the same wrong things when you post your next image.
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by Jim Zipp on Sun Aug 24, 2003 3:42 pm
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Beautiful image Matt. The background compliments the subject perfectly.
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by E.J. Peiker on Sun Aug 24, 2003 4:03 pm
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This image is outstanding. Great exposure, great subject, excellent background.
 

by Juli Wilcox on Sun Aug 24, 2003 5:43 pm
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Now that's a photographer who can critique his own images so well. I like it just fine and think the featheration is really, really nice.
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by AlexC on Sun Aug 24, 2003 5:50 pm
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Wonderful texture on the feathers, nice exposure , pose , perch and details, Very nice, the look back is but the icing on the cake!! Sweet!!!
Congrats!! 8)
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by Juan A. Pons on Sun Aug 24, 2003 7:08 pm
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I love the smoothness of the colors, the detail of the feathers and you go the exposure right on. I however think there is a little too much sharpening going (for my taste) on on the tail feathers.
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by NDCheryl on Sun Aug 24, 2003 7:09 pm
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Absolutely superb. This would look very nice on the wall.
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by Jim Probst on Sun Aug 24, 2003 9:25 pm
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Matt,

Lovely image! The gray background complements the Tern beautifully. Outstanding work!
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by Anthony Medici on Sun Aug 24, 2003 9:29 pm
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Nothing common about this image either. 8) Well done!
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by matt kuchta on Mon Aug 25, 2003 4:33 pm
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Sandy Mossberg wrote:Matt, despite your protests, this image could hardly be better. Just figure out how to do the same wrong things when you post your next image.
You're quite right. Baseball players refer to this as "staying stupid." It's easy to think yourself out of a situation. Sometimes instinct and reaction are best.

jpons wrote: I however think there is a little too much sharpening going (for my taste) on on the tail feathers.
Me too, actually. When I print this, I'll reduce the amount of sharpening there and try to keep it on the head. I was having a little difficulty with the downsizing too - keeping the primaries from pixelating too much - there's a little too much stair-stepping for my taste right now.

Thanks for the comments. This one really didn't pop out at me, but sometimes it takes an independent eye to really find the winners.

cheers,
-matt
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by RichardMittleman/Gon2Foto on Mon Aug 25, 2003 4:42 pm
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I like everything about it.
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