alberta_pizzolato

Long, well thought out reply. I admire that. But let's agree to disagree. I've been a graphic artist/professional photographer for many years now - both film and digital. My new 27" iMac is top of the line and properly calibrated. I see a color cast that I would want to remove. You believe it "speaks" of the environment. This isn't my photo. If you're happy, I'm happy.

Cheers ~

Alberta

You are my Photo.net mind altering drug :)

Cheers ~

Alberta

Didn't mean to overlook you. You're welcome.

Cheers ~

Alberta

Charming composition, Sal. You might adjust the tone a bit (there are so many different ways to do this), and find it packs more punch when the green of the palm trees and the stucco of the little house do not have an orange color cast. Or at least that's what I see - too much orange.

Again, lovely composition!

Cheers ~

Alberta

Thanks so much!

You recently commented on my attempt to paint a digitally altered chicken using a new PhotoShop CS5 brush. I thank you for that very nice comment too. But I removed the picture - because I did not use the brush correctly. I'm still learning. You should be able to see brush strokes, just like you would if you photographed an acrylic or oil painting. I'll try again.

Cheers ~

Alberta

Fantastic effect here, Sinh. The water even looks hot! 6/7 for sure!!

Cheers ~

Alberta

Hi Lisa:

I agree: The shallow DOF is lovely. The expression is very tender. I find the one eye in focus and foreground eye blurred most interesting.

But there's one thing, over which you had no control, that diminishes what could be a beautiful presentation here. The title and tags are directly under her nose. I think a crop that included the tip of her nose would have avoided that. Not something you think of when you're shooting and relates strictly to how Photo.net's layout at times does our works a disservice.

Cheers ~

Alberta

Beautiful, Eugene! You picked just the right angle for this shot, making the boat's bow seem almost out of proportion and drawing our attention back to the very muted horizon. Just beautiful.

But what's on the boat trailer? Sea foam? Soap suds? Snow and ice??

Anyway, great shot and excellent B&W conversion.

Cheers ~

Alberta

No excuses necessary, for any reason. I never write regarding photos I find uninteresting. This one's a keeper. AND I'm so glad the little chick will live to see another day.

Cheers ~

Alberta

Boy am I glad I didn't try to interpret the relationship between your subject matter and the title. I would have felt very very foolish. Never saw it coming. Good one, Jack! Good eye, Markku!

Cheers ~

Alberta

Oh Lord, Gordon. Every time you share you photographic insight I have to look things up, translate terminology, buttons, dials to my particular camera and experiment some more.

Love it! Thanks much.

Cheers ~

Alberta

Thanks! You would have burst out loud laughing if you saw me in the head of a 38' catamaran, with my lens just above sea level, trying to maintain my balance and get a focused shot. Shows what persistence can return. But you know that - above so many others, you know that.

Cheers ~

Alberta

Usually, I prefer to see foreground subjects in focus but in this case, the compelling pose of the comic figure makes the foreground blur seem not only acceptable but desirable to me. Great shot!

Cheers ~

Alberta

Beautiful and fascinating, Gordon. Kudos!

How big was this creature?

Cheers ~

Alberta

For every one way to do something with machinery or software, there are dozens more. My personal experiences with deliberately underexposing have not been pretty. I usually find those shots noisy and often with a much softer focus. I don't pretend to understand the technical cause and effect relationship here. But after takings so many dozens of shots and examining results, I find the manual mode with a focal point precisely placed on a area of light with some contrast has given me the best results.

Thanks for writing - always appreciate a good photo conversation.

Cheers ~

Alberta 

Fantastic shot! In fact your entire portfolio is fantastic. So glad I found it (via the No Words Forum).

Cheers ~

Alberta

Spot on, Alf. This MUST be viewed larger. Most impressive!

Cheers ~

Alberta

I agree - wonderful subject! I'm not sure why your ISO is 1000 and why your shutter speed is so fast. Did you shoot only once? Maybe bracketing would help next time, if there is a next time.

If you post-process, I would suggest a little sharpening (almost every photo needs that) and more contrast, especially on the chest feathers.

Makes me want to hug him :)

Cheers ~

Alberta

What a terrific POV! And you did the very best with it too - composition, lighting, focus and color. Brava!!

Cheers ~

Alberta

Great job, Gary. The composition isn't perfect (stem and flowers in the lower right corner) but the "posture" of the two flowers that are central to this capture is magnificent, as is the lighting and focus. Patience paid off!

Cheers ~

Alberta

Thanks for your comments and suggestions. I shot this from a moving catamaran on the Intracoastal Waterway close to Venice. The waterway in that area is flanked by not-so-nice-looking banks of mud, weeds and the occasional mangrove as pictured here. I did want a different crop but the adjoining areas are just not pleasant to look at (garbage bag floating, telephone wires, etc.) And this is as much motion as this bird displayed. He ruffled his feathers but did not take off.

I visited your Costa Rica folder and was instantly jealous. We were there for a business conference for 10 days in 2004. At that time I had a crummy 4 megapixel Minolta. Never saw an egret on that trip. Massive iguanas, butterflies in all stages of transformation and hundreds of hummingbirds. My husband and I are right now thinking of renting there for a year.

Back to your folder: I viewed not only the egrets but lots of other beautiful creatures. Some wonderful shots in there! And I viewed the EXIF details. I don't pretend to understand your camera. I barely understand mine. But it seems to me that your focus and lighting is every so much better when you shoot on manual mode. I find that manual is the only way to go when shooting white birds. It's just too easy to blow out all the whites with a program mode.

See you in Costa Rica!

Alberta

But you did (get involved), didn't you :) Good one too!

Cheers ~

Alberta

Thanks! I got lucky. I was using a free trial of NIK Software's Color Efex Pro filters and had just the right lighting on the statue, which was all very subdued shades of mostly cream. All I did was make one click on that filter and voila! 

Have a great day ~

Alberta

Thank you. This one was difficult to take with the boat I was on bouncing around.

Cheers ~

Alberta

Cute picture, great title!

Cheers ~

Alberta