Piers Blackett
May 2022 - Heraldic Pose
Original
About the Image(s)
This was one of a pair of Neotropic Cormorants. They stretch out their wings to dry and cool off, and the pose has been historically used for heraldry. They are smaller than the more common Double-Crested cousins and are rarely seen north of Texas. The photo was taken at 1/2000, f/8.0, 347 mm, ISO 800 in evening light.
In post I made tonal adjustments and denoised, and in Photoshop removed dead branches with the lasso tool and content aware fill (mask added). The water ripples, altered by content aware, were lined up with clone stamp. The water background was masked to adjust by decreasing texture, contrast and brightness. The perch was shorted at the low end to improve position for composition and the water entry simulated with a blur.
9 comments posted
Since I now winter in SW FL, I regularly see these birds, and their more common cousins that you referenced. It's amazing to watch these birds duck underwater, swim after their selected quarry, and emerge with a fish in their beaks. They then have to toss the fish up in the air and allow gravity to (hopefully) position the fish head-down as they catch it to swallow it whole. Occasionally, the fish is too big for them to swallow whole, and they have to give up and start over. Posted: 05/02/2022 09:13:33
Well done.
You have handled the blackness of the feathers well and I like that you have removed the clutter of branches in post production.
I would be tempted to clone a little of the original image into your final image, just where the supporting branch enters the water or have the supporting branch running out of the image.
I think this transition needs to be definite rather than the rather ambiguous treatment you have given it.
Posted: 05/02/2022 20:26:35
and darkened for the shadow on the water.
Posted: 05/05/2022 12:03:32
I used content aware and cloning to add some water with some exposure lowering for shadow. Posted: 05/05/2022 12:06:32
Is the R5 your camera? Posted: 05/05/2022 12:11:49