DPChallenge: A Digital Photography Contest You are not logged in. (log in or register) 
 
Challenge Entries
Portfolio Images
This image is not part of a public portfolio.
ruler of the river
ruler of the river
tcmartin


Photograph Information Photographer's Comments
Challenge: Negative Space III (Basic Editing)
Camera: Canon EOS-350D Rebel XT
Lens: Canon EF 70-200mm f/4.0L USM
Location: Nearby pond
Date: Jun 15, 2007
Aperture: f/4
ISO: 200
Shutter: 1/3200 sec.
Galleries: Nature, Animals
Date Uploaded: Jun 17, 2007

 This guy is one of my favorite subjects, but he is very tough to get. He is a lone American White pelican that hangs out in a dinky little pond at our nearby fairgrounds. He is very shy and difficult to capture. The light seemed right and I went over to see what he was up to. To my surprise he was swimming alone and headed to the nearby bank – right toward me. I grabbed the camera and tried not to spook him. Well, I was so caught up in the moment that I forget to check all of my camera setting and just started firing away. I know how difficult birds are to expose, especially white ones and retain any detail in the feathers – but I still completely forgot to carefully check everything. When I got home and looked at the results I was horrified. Everything was over-exposed. In an attempt to salvage anything I open up the raw files and really pressed them. This popped out and it seemed perfect for this challenge. It ended up looking almost painted.

Sort of aggressive and serendipitous processing:
RAW – aggressive settings
Crop
Shadow/Highlight – aggressive again
Smart Sharpen
Levels
Brightness/Contrast
Border

Statistics
Place: 52 out of 374
Avg (all users): 6.1088
Avg (commenters): 6.8000
Avg (participants): 6.0690
Avg (non-participants): 6.1415
Views since voting: 875
Views during voting: 253
Votes: 193
Comments: 12
Favorites: 1 (view)

Please log in or register to add your comments!

AuthorThread
 Comments Made During the Challenge
06/26/2007 10:49:20 AM
nice photo. I would have liked the crop better if the dead space above the pelican equaled the dead space below the ripples because the bird seems a bit to close to the border. 8
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 06/25/2007 11:31:05 PM
Nice shot. Good clarity on the bird. He's white but not blown out. Colors look good. bg/neg space helps give him the pop he needs. Nice job.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 06/25/2007 09:20:18 AM
I think this image could be improved by not cropping to tightly above the bird - a little extra black space above it would make that part feel a little less claustrophobic.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 06/24/2007 07:25:48 AM
Great shot!10
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 06/22/2007 09:37:37 PM
I always like these types of shots, and this is no exception. The light on the water going across the frame in the foreground perhaps distracts slightly from the subject but overall this is an effective image.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 06/22/2007 05:59:42 PM
Oh, this is such a neat shot, but I wish the bird wasn't so far into the corner. Nice choice on the border.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 06/22/2007 04:27:48 PM
you need something more to help that pelican create negative space.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 06/22/2007 11:08:54 AM
love the ripples and reflection. might be a bit tight on top but an overall lovely photo
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 06/21/2007 10:49:26 AM
A little more space above the bird would have helped here becvause it is cropped so tightly its a little uncomfortable, nice ripplesi n the water.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 06/20/2007 12:10:14 PM
This has a wonderful texture that many other birds floating on water don't have. I bet it would be stunning in a larger format. Upping the score. ;~D
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 06/20/2007 03:10:51 AM
very nice lighting, 6

Jack
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 06/19/2007 09:47:52 PM
Very nice!! 8
  Photographer found comment helpful.


Home - Challenges - Community - League - Photos - Cameras - Lenses - Learn - Help - Terms of Use - Privacy - Top ^
DPChallenge, and website content and design, Copyright © 2001-2025 Challenging Technologies, LLC.
All digital photo copyrights belong to the photographers and may not be used without permission.
Current Server Time: 04/07/2025 02:19:32 AM EDT.