Charles Walker
July 2026 - Pretty Pigeon
Original
About the Image(s)
While Vienna is known for its classical music composers and Lipizzaner horses, it also has some lovely city parks. Scenes for IR photography are relatively easy to find. A couple years ago I shared a colorized version of this month’s submission. Like others have done in our discussion group, I decided to retrieve it and resubmit it in black & white. In this version I enhanced the highlights, raised the shadows, deleted people and repositioned the pigeon. ik Efex Pro 3 and Topaz were used to tweak the finishing touches.
Camera data: Nikon D7000 (590nm), f/8, 1/100, 40mm, ISO=320.
11 comments posted
Hi Chales. I really like this monochrome photo. Perfect timing with the bird, and excellent capture of the scene with it. Your post processing produced beautiful tones and contrast that fits the scene. Well done. Posted: 07/01/2026 16:36:24
I like your post processing on this image! You got lucky to capture a sharp bird in flight at 1/100. You created a lovely scene. Makes want to go back and reprocess my old images. Posted: 07/01/2026 18:47:13
I got lucky with the bird. It was coming at me, slowing down. Otherwise a much faster shutter speed would be needed. Posted: 07/13/2026 12:21:57
Charles,
Wonderful water scene.
May I ask about the pigeon, it is in a different spot in the sky in the "original", if you added it it is seamless and it makes the image.
Emil Posted: 07/01/2026 20:26:27
Wonderful water scene.
May I ask about the pigeon, it is in a different spot in the sky in the "original", if you added it it is seamless and it makes the image.
Emil Posted: 07/01/2026 20:26:27
I relocated the original pigeon, then used the stamp tool to repair the cut in the trees. This took some time. Posted: 07/13/2026 12:19:59
Charles,
You did an excellent job with this rendering of this image. I went back and found your original version and I like this much better. Lights and darks, as well as the reflection are all handled well and I like your positioning of the pigeon. Posted: 07/02/2026 16:52:03
You did an excellent job with this rendering of this image. I went back and found your original version and I like this much better. Lights and darks, as well as the reflection are all handled well and I like your positioning of the pigeon. Posted: 07/02/2026 16:52:03
It has a high key feel, Charles, and yet you've got the dark tree trunks in the back, which provide just enough black. That little bit of sky on top; it's interesting how if cropped out, what a difference it makes. Posted: 07/03/2026 15:06:37
Thanks for the comments. I had some cognitive dissonance leaving a small patch of sky. An alternative crop would have been ok too. Posted: 07/13/2026 12:25:08
Very interesting image and I agree that the bird is very sharp for being hand held at 1/100 sec. I think I would crop down a little from the top, maybe to just above the tree on the right, to reduce the amount of trees which would also move the horizon so that it is not centered in the image.
I've seen some videos on folks using the feather edge of a brush mask to soften the edges between the bird and the background so it doesn't look pasted into the image. I'll see if I can find an example and followup. Posted: 07/08/2026 02:09:00
I've seen some videos on folks using the feather edge of a brush mask to soften the edges between the bird and the background so it doesn't look pasted into the image. I'll see if I can find an example and followup. Posted: 07/08/2026 02:09:00
I'd appreciate that Jeff. To try to accomplish a more natural look, I enlarge the image then use tools to manage the edge, but it is a lot of work and the object still looks unnatural.
The bird was coming at me and slowing down, so I got lucky. Posted: 07/13/2026 12:16:31
The bird was coming at me and slowing down, so I got lucky. Posted: 07/13/2026 12:16:31
Here is a link to a video I put into my dropbox. It is a lesson on using masks to improve edges in an image in Lightroom. If you are not a lightroom user I'm sure it is applicable to other raw image processors as well. It is a big file so you may be able to watch it directly from the link I sent or just download it.
https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/uuar3sagyq4flvv9s5983/Lesson-14-Edge-Refinement-Techniques.mp4?rlkey=yvfz083i1fo86w3xuy97wj5qo&dl=0
Posted: 07/14/2026 01:54:58
https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/uuar3sagyq4flvv9s5983/Lesson-14-Edge-Refinement-Techniques.mp4?rlkey=yvfz083i1fo86w3xuy97wj5qo&dl=0
Posted: 07/14/2026 01:54:58