Frank St-Pierre
About the Image(s)
Title: High Roller
Lilac breasted rollers are ubiquitous in Africa. I didn't have time to properly frame this one (see original), but it's one of the few usable ones I managed to shoot in flight head-on. It's more or less in focus so I wanted to try to use it. The background was uninteresting and busy. I tried changing to a grassy textured background removing with some
distractions removed, but that didn't pop very much, so maybe something more drastic: an angry sky with some light
coming through the wings. It's probably obvious it's a composite, but that's allowed, right? It's a WIP, and I'll rework
from scratch depending on feedback from the birders in this group.
Shot handheld in March of last year in Tanzania using a Fuji Xt-3 with a 100-400 lens, at 1/2000, F5.6, ISO 320
Processed in ON1, with a few touch ups (including the added eye glint) in Gimp. I saturated colors a bit more in the
cloud version. I cropped square because of the flawed original composition.
This round’s discussion is now closed!
13 comments posted
I'm a poor person to as which is the better image. At heart I am a naturalist/realist and am not really a fan of changing skies and the like. When you first sent this to me and I prepared it for posting the first image I opened was the original. I think the bird stands out from the background and makes a bold statement as the subject. I like the blurred background as it is sijple, offers no distractions and sets off the subject quite well. The little bit of grass at the bottom is so minimal as to not bother me at all and just makes the image and environmental study. If I were to do anything it might be to try sharpening the bird in something like Topaz but not to over do it so that the bird becomes "crispy". Even though I'm a c onfirmed naturalist, I do like the catch light in the eye.
  Posted: 05/09/2022 10:11:42
(Groups 4 & 15 & 58 & 59 & 72)
I'll be in SW Kenya in August and hope to see a lot of these while there!   Posted: 05/12/2022 13:04:13
SW Kenya (if you're going to the Maasai Mara) will be great in August -- the river crossings are spectacular.   Posted: 05/16/2022 17:04:29
Just getting an image of this beautiful bird with its plumage vibrant and visible was not easy! OK so you got it in a porr composition, but you improved it. While I have no problem with sky replacement, I thin original 2 is also a strong composition. It has the bird flying out of the brush. For your sky replacement version, I love how you have the break in the clouds mimicking the angle into which the bird will be flying. Nice touch!   Posted: 05/13/2022 10:33:46