I took this picture first and then thought...nah, i'm not going to enter a lame humming bird pic.
need something with a little more creativity, something more challenging, so I went to a place where hang gliders land and spent the hours trying to get this shot.
Really wanted to use one of the butterfly shots but they just weren't sharp enough. I was shooting in manual focus mode and it was tricky keeping up with these moving objects! :P
I entered this, but got a lot of comments the background was too bright.
Would this have been any better?
The desat one is easier on the eyes, although I don't think it would have changed my vote any. Looks like a tough shot to get. Fill flash might have helped some, if it was possible at that location?
Thanks for the comments. I boosted the saturation to make the bird pretty. I could have used some fill flash to naturally bring out the colors. There were many Lorikeetsin this aviary, but catching them with wings extended with a decent background is tough.
My first comment on "Stork" was that the rock looked a little blown. I had to chuckle, and resolved to post the whole picture after the challenge was over.
Submitted: Stork (or blue heron per some of my commentors - it was shot at the zoo with no convenient sign telling me what it was...)
The original (rotate, resize, smart photo fix) was:
Feedback, as always, is appreciated. "Stork" only scored a 5.0777, and I've been struggling to get above the 5.2 area. Any suggestions?
Thought you folks might appreciate the full shot - but the challenge was wings. And of course, he had his wings fully spread shortly before I got near enough to take a shot, and then refused to do so again... ;-p
Don't ask me how to get out of the 5.2 area, I've been trying to figure that out for months. I personally like the original full version. The submitted one appears to be a bird in a natural setting, but the heron standing on a stork statue facing the same thing is humorous. Someone commented the original was OOF, and that was apparently due to the drastic cropping.
The latter image would not pass the rules of the contest. Could not enter it in good conscience. Entered the rules legal one. So, I've never been DQ'd and I don't ever intend to step over the line. That's not self-righteousness. It's playing by the rules.
The latter image would not pass the rules of the contest.
What rules would you have broken? It was Advanced Editing wasn't it?
I like both shots. Don't know that the outtake would have done much better than 6.7xx and 16th place! :P
On the original image of the latter, the tip of the lowest tail feather was clipped off by the frame. I had to clone in a new tail tip, or suffer the derision of the voters. My opinion is this would have been adding elements not in the original image.
The latter image would not pass the rules of the contest.
What rules would you have broken? It was Advanced Editing wasn't it?
I like both shots. Don't know that the outtake would have done much better than 6.7xx and 16th place! :P
On the original image of the latter, the tip of the lowest tail feather was clipped off by the frame. I had to clone in a new tail tip, or suffer the derision of the voters. My opinion is this would have been adding elements not in the original image.
Ok. Gotcha. I wouldn't have ventured there either! :) Congrats on the Top 20 finish!
