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Alive with Color in the Dead of Winter
Alive with Color in the Dead of Winter
Mike_Adams


Photograph Information Photographer's Comments
Challenge: Birds II (Advanced Editing VII)
Camera: Canon EOS-40D
Lens: Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM
Location: Sarah Duke Gardens, Duke University Durham, NC
Date: Jan 26, 2008
Aperture: F4.0
ISO: 400
Shutter: 1/320th
Galleries: Animals
Date Uploaded: Jan 27, 2008

 Ok, this was taken in the Sarah Duke Gardens on the campus of Duke University in Durham, NC. This is a hand held shot. A swarm of several kinds of ducks and geese quickly approached the shore I was on when a family came by with some Cheerios and bread to feed. This particular bird was by far the most dynamic to my eye so I stayed patient till it got to a place that would work and till other birds cleared the shot.

Very little done to this so I will give you the whole PP involved.

1. Brightness adjust – Canon Raw
2. Contrast adjust – Canon Raw
3. Sharpness adjust – Canon Raw
4. Brightness adjust – Canon RGB
5. Sharpness – Canon RGB
6. Saturation – Canon RGB
7. Clone out small bright spot – Canon Clone Tool
8. Crop
9. Save as JPG
10. Open in PS
11. Highlights and Shadows – PS
12. Border frame - PS
13. Save for Web - PS

And that was it. :-) Well I am curious to see how it does. I actually like it most of any challenge shot I have submitted so far so I would love a personal best, but we will see what DPC has to say!

Statistics
Place: 21 out of 251
Avg (all users): 6.7488
Avg (commenters): 7.5263
Avg (participants): 6.6238
Avg (non-participants): 6.8679
Views since voting: 1764
Views during voting: 415
Votes: 207
Comments: 27
Favorites: 1 (view)

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AuthorThread
 10/06/2009 11:11:17 AM
what a beuatiful bird
 09/30/2009 08:32:20 AM
Stunning image. Very well done.
 02/13/2008 06:23:36 PM
Thanks for your comment it was the only really helpful one. i'll keep seeing what you put up.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 02/04/2008 04:41:28 PM
Beautiful representative of a Mandarin Duck.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 02/04/2008 08:28:07 AM
Great Shot. I love the gardens there and the Chapel is really kewl...
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 Comments Made During the Challenge
02/03/2008 12:22:09 PM
such a strange looking bird It almost looks as if its not real nice capture 9
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 02/02/2008 07:22:34 AM
Very nice and the colors look natural and not over-saturated. focus is good, composition is nice.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 02/01/2008 01:03:36 PM
He needs a little more space above his head in my opinion, especially with the colored frame boxing him in. Nice clarity.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 02/01/2008 10:57:09 AM
Perfect clarity-great shot!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/31/2008 07:16:08 AM
Nice detail!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/30/2008 04:34:12 PM
wow, AMAZING colors!!!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/30/2008 12:03:58 PM
Look at that weird looking thing! :) Very nice photo! Slight sharpening artifacts?
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/30/2008 09:46:49 AM
Clever take of this coloring.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/30/2008 09:17:40 AM
Wow - color indeed! A very lovely bird nicely presented.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/30/2008 06:35:08 AM
Wow. Great capture of the colors. The reflecting water is a bit distracting. Did you use a polarizering filter? 6
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/29/2008 03:32:28 PM
The color is amazing!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/29/2008 06:15:47 AM
Sweet photo, though I'm not in love with the border.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/28/2008 07:06:26 PM
certainly colourful but very oversharp
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/28/2008 02:07:17 PM
amazing detail. if i had to nit-pick i would say the composition could be better. 9
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/28/2008 02:02:44 PM
Very well done. Perfect exposure IMO.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/28/2008 12:22:50 PM
Nice capture. Almost everything I like about it is provided by the bird though (i.e. attractiveness/uniqueness). The composition and POV suggests hastiness rather than craftmanship. Although you did get the shot so that's important. The thing is your title suggests more than what is delivered here and why I expected more. Perhaps a lower POV would have captured that story better (i.e. show more of the surrounding elements) and at the same time given this composition more harmony with the subject.

Just my opinion of course. It's a good photo. I just think it can be better. Good luck.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/28/2008 11:27:37 AM
Amazing colors.... what kind of bird is this?
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/28/2008 10:27:07 AM
What a cute bird! Is it a Mandarin Duck? I love the colours.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/28/2008 09:18:15 AM
Just gotta love these ducks. They are a blast of colour. your shot is fabulous. colours are crisp, clean, sharp in all the right places, very very well done indeed. 10 straight across the board here for this one
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/28/2008 08:52:06 AM
super wow factor gets automatic 10
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/28/2008 05:35:38 AM
WOW, the colors are astounding, a little distracting glare behind the duck, BUT GREAT COLOR!! - 10, hope you do well!!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/27/2008 08:32:25 PM
Beautiful bird... the rock on the left side is a little distracting.
  Photographer found comment helpful.


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