KristinLauman

Hoverfly on Spiderwort. Your critique is welcome and your ratings

appreciated. Thanks.

Thanks for the feedback.  That raises some questions though. 

This is a new lens (used, but new for me).  I shot with only a 50mm 2.5 macro for years and I know that lens pretty well.   For this image, at 1/320, the original was under exposed by nearly a full stop.  Shot in AV mode, on a tripod, and I decided to push the ISO to 320 anyway, just  so I could have close to 1/2 my focal length.  

Am I having a mechanical problem?  I had one image this Sunday where 1/2 of the image was completely black, indicating that the curtain was out of sync.  But it just happened the one time, so I was treating it as a one off.  

Note to self...need light meter. 

I felt the exposure wasn't right on my previous post. This is my new

attempt. Thanks for looking and as always, C&C welcome.

Wow!  Even more impressive that you did this in relatively low light using a 100-400.  Though I see you have a 5D MII which I believe handles the noise at higher ISO's a bit better than the 40D and other earlier APS-C bodies.  Do you mind sharing the EXIF data?

Good timing with the shutter.  If the duck that was the subject of the attack is the female in the center, then the motivation was unlikely anger.   (Can ducks be motivated by anger?)  It is a species trait for some unpaired male teals within breeding season to forceably mate with female teals, females from other species and even other male teals.  Harsh, but true.   

What an adorable subject!  And you captured it very well.  I love the back lighting.  Do you mind sharing how you controlled the reflection on the water?  It looks like silk draping more than shiny water.  Did you use filters, fixed in post?  Bravo!

Thanks so much.  I think the key here was to shoot it under clouds.  I went back and photographed her again in the early morning sunlight and the colors of the bird were off and it didn't look right. 

BTW, this is a swallow, not a sparrow.  Too much multitasking!  My other recent upload is a sparrow.

This is really alluring.  I love the eyes.  I know nothing about portraiture, but I think the light balance is beautiful here and the skin tones are lovely.  What I like best about it is the complement of the reds with the hazel green eyes, and the placement of the twist in the wrap at the top and how it echos the heart shaped hairline.  7/7!

Shot this in the early morning...cloudy day. I wanted to change the

color of the green to be a bit warmer, but it wasn't working out.

Left it on the cool side.

Thanks so much.  I'm doing a little dance.  This is the first image from my portfolio to make the front page banner!

The full color version. I appreciate your feedback, both positive and

negative.

The full color version can be viewed by clicking the right

arrow--or by viewing the gallery. I played around with

converting to grey scale by deleting channels and using

masks to add texture to the back ground. I hope you find

this pleasing. As always, C&C welcome.

Thanks so much for the feedback.  I decided to take a stab at removing that shadow. Brick by brick...  

I completely agree with MJ.  Beautiful as always.  I would be very interested in learning some of your techniques. 

This is so beautiful.  Very good work.  I'm curious what sort of background was in the image originally?  How long does it take you to get these retouched?  7!

Not being a composite, this is really good timing.  Some might nit-pick about the wings not being fully sharp, but what the heck--the fact that you got the eye sharp is incredible.  There has got to be a good story behind this picture.

I like the image overall.  Is this a composite?  The feet don't look like they are holding onto the bird, but sitting on top of.  Eye is nice and sharp.

The more I look a it, the less I like it.  Too many cast shadows makes it busy.  Wrong time of day for this shot facing east.

It was a challenge to shoot this image because of where the swan was

situated, and the swan is picking up some cast shadows from a fence.

I did some work to balance her out. What do you think, keeper or

discard?

Hi Martin,

I'm curious about the goal of this image.  The horizon is off level which gives it a distorted feeling.  Was that a conscious choice you made?  It has a bit of a run down disheveled feeling to it...which isn't necessarily bad, but was that your goal?  I think this could be better shot in different light, such as early morning or late evening. 

Wonderful image!  Your placement of objects in the frame is appealing and unique.  Very well done. 

Thanks Mike, yeah, I've been really struggling with the ID on these, so I posted on the nature forum last night.  These are a PAIR of solitary sandpipers.  I guess I bought the wrong bird guides. 

Trying my hand at some B&W photography this year. How do you think

this would look with IR filters? I've read mixed reviews about this.

I think I have some IR film left in the freezer even... Maybe I'll

dust off the old EOS. :)