This is a Harris' Hawk. I know some folks won't like my border use, but my family liked it better, so I kept the border behind the hawk for this one. Is this really my best shot in 2004? Probably not (some of my challenge photos are probably 'better'), but I do like it a lot, and my kids liked it best, so I'll go with their advice.
PP: I put the hawk and background on different layers, selecting it with the polygonal lasso with a 2 pixel feather and smoothing it by 10 pixels. I did autocolor on both layers separately, which added some yellow to both.
On the background, I augmented the motion blur (I was panning for the shot) to make the movement more visible as I remembered it and to visually increase the speed of the bird.
I applied a median filter at 2 pixels to the hawk for digital cleaning, then faded it to about 30%. I increased saturation of the background by about 15%. I added the border (white at 50%) to the background layer, and noticed that I should have flattened the image before doing so, but my wife commanded me to keep the border behind the bird, so I did, even though I'll probably get slammed for it. I don't know, maybe it's subtle enough....I like it better, so I'm keeping it!
I then flattened, resized for print, sharpened it, and then made a new size for the web, which I also sharpened again.
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Place: 8 out of 530 Avg (all users): 6.9324 Avg (commenters): 8.0741 Avg (participants): 6.9506 Avg (non-participants): 6.8701 Views since voting: 3637 Views during voting: 539 Votes: 340 Comments: 36 Favorites: 15 (view)
Thanks for the comments, and the votes. I'm sure the border put off as many folks as it pleased, but I liked it, so I kept it. I haven't done borders in a while!
I've been really busy with university work, so I haven't been able to participate on DPC for a while, but I hope to make time soon.
With the frame done that way and the angle of the head/shoulder, it looks like he's flying into the frame, definitely a different approach (sorry, pun intended).
No argument with your technique, but I'd be curious to see the original to see how/how much the motion blur added. I've tried using that filter myself, but only found it effective applied very sparingly.
One of my top three choices to ribbon in this challenge. Just a great, great shot.
Hey, I just realized this is yours David. Well, it is about time I finally placed ahead of you. Heck, I'm so pleased I don't even care that your picture is a lot better than mine. :)
What a marvelous capture! Soft background is perfect. There is no noise. The bird is captured with crystal clarity. Composition and framing flawless. An amazing picture worthy of anyone's best of 2004 collection. Kudos to you!
WOW...Great title and result...The focus is bang on and your "bokeh" is perfect. Curious to know how you captured this (i.e. actually in flight or smudge tool-lol). Regardless, one of my top images I've voted on so far. Good Luck.
This is a really great shot, with nice detail. As far as the motion blur goes, I'm not sure if it was a well timed capture, or VERY skilled editing. Either way you have done a fantastic job.
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