The Lake is FINALLY Thawing!
I was able to get over to Lake Michigan slightly before sunset and was finally able try out my new 7D & 100-400mm lens! Thank goodness for daylight savings time!!!
I'm still VERY new at this so I know I still have lots to learn about photography and post-processing. These weren't really pp much at all ...so much to do ...so little time! Any and all suggestions highly appreciated!
These guys are patiently awaiting a full thaw of Lake Michigan!
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Thanks & have a great night,
Denise
Re: The Lake is FINALLY Thawing!
Hi Denise,
Great shots! Glad to see you're enjoying your new gear.
Might I suggest a slight increase in colour temperature/ fiddling with your white balance settings. I think some of the shots could be a little warmer. Especially the last one where the whites in the posts/ gulls seem a little bluish to me (could just be my eyes playing tricks on me too!).
Composition's great though - I particularly like # 6.
cheers, Ben.
Re: The Lake is FINALLY Thawing!
Eerie duck eyes [:D] LOL Are they really red? Sorry, I haven't seen that kind of ducks here on the other side of the globe.
Kidding aside, are these cropped? How far away are you from the ducks? Those are so close.
Re: The Lake is FINALLY Thawing!
Hey Denise,
These are by far your best shots to date. #4 is my favorite. The last one would be the best, but the gulls are a bit too far to the right in the frame and the bokeh just doesn't smear out those trees in the BG. This is one of the 100-400's biggest flaws and is partially why you might want to use your 300 f/4.
I don't have anything close to Lake Michigan near me, but I do have a medium-sized pond that is also thawing. Just got over there last week for some shots, there were some geese and ring-billed gulls:
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Re: The Lake is FINALLY Thawing!
Denise, great shots.
You can create your own bokeh, if you have PS or PS Elements. Just make another layer of the gulls, place it on top of the original image, blur it with one of the filters in the program, then erase the areas (posts and the gulls) from this layer. Flatten the image, a voila, you've got a better bokeh.
Re: The Lake is FINALLY Thawing!
Quote:
Originally Posted by btaylor
Might I suggest a slight increase in colour temperature/ fiddling with your white balance settings. I think some of the shots could be a little warmer. Especially the last one where the whites in the posts/ gulls seem a little bluish to me (could just be my eyes playing tricks on me too!).
Hi Ben,
Thanks for the compliments! You are correct about the last one. I did not have time to do any editing and just wanted to quickly post a few as is. There's plenty more where these came from that are probably better and I plan on going back there tonight. I was just so excited to have something other than backyard birds to photograph! It's been a long winter!
Denise
Re: The Lake is FINALLY Thawing!
Quote:
Originally Posted by bburns223
These are by far your best shots to date.
Thanks, Brendan! I have more that I will post periodically! It was so beautiful down by the lake, I plan on going back there tonight after work! In the 60's and sunny here but with snow on the way for the weekend!
Quote:
Originally Posted by bburns223
This is one of the 100-400's biggest flaws and is partially why you might want to use your 300 f/4.
I don't plan on taking the 100-400mm off my camera anytime soon, I absolutely love it!
Denise
Re: The Lake is FINALLY Thawing!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Alan
Denise, great shots.
You can create your own bokeh, if you have PS or PS Elements. Just make another layer of the gulls, place it on top of the original image, blur it with one of the filters in the program, then erase the areas (posts and the gulls) from this layer. Flatten the image, a voila, you've got a better bokeh.
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Thank, Alan. Hopefully I will have time tonight to do alittle pp. After I get back from taking more photos! [:)]
Denise
Re: The Lake is FINALLY Thawing!
Great pics, Denise! I really like #6! I also like that you have a lower angle in shots 4-6 - that might have been something to try when composing shots like 1-3.
Re: The Lake is FINALLY Thawing!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ralph
Eerie duck eyes [img]/emoticons/emotion-2.gif[/img] LOL Are they really red? Sorry, I haven't seen that kind of ducks here on the other side of the globe.
Kidding aside, are these cropped? How far away are you from the ducks? Those are so close.
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There are steps at the marina that go right down to the water so I am anywhere from a foot to 20 ft. from the birds. Most were very close last night! A couple of these were cropped about an inch on the side opposite of the direction they are looking.
I have more to come that are maybe a little better than these.
Denise
