Egret in Flight

[phlyersphan]

Hi all -

My photography class has finally started! It's a 4 week class and we have 2 field trips for shooting - a nature preserve, and an urban shot. We're also allowed to shoot on our own within those themes.

This is a shot I took in my back yard (I have a pond separating my yard from a golf course).

I have to choose 10 photos to submit as my portfolio at the end of the class. This is the first one I've taken that I am considering. We will turn in prints only - nine 4x6 and one 8x10.

But, it needs something. Or maybe it's unusable. Thing is, I can't decide so I'm seeking your opinions!!

I've already cropped the photo and messed with the colors a bit. The pond is starting to look drab with the end of summer, so that doesn't help.

I was panning when I took the shot, but my shutter speed was way too slow. I had accidentally bumped the switch to Manual instead of AP and ended up with my moon settings from the night before!

So there's a bit of camera shake evidence around the egret's wings.

That didn't bother me too much, though, as it sort of seemed to add to the motion of the bird.

One thing I was thinking is that I may need to blur the background a bit more. Right now it has that panning motion blur, but something about it irks me.

Help!!! Is this shot worth keeping?

(I do intend to hang out on my back porch and try to get some more shots of the egret).

Advice/comments/thoughts appreciated!!!!



Exposure: 0.04 sec (1/25)
Aperture: f/8
Focal Length: 300 mm
ISO Speed: 100
Exposure Bias: 0/3 EV
Flash: Flash did not fire

[DennisL]

Nice shot. I agree with you, personally I think more bg blur would be nice.
Good capture though!
Where are you taking your class? Sounds very interesting, and I've been looking for courses to take...

[phlyersphan]

Thanks! I think I'm going to jump back into photoshop and mess with the background. Stay tuned!

I'm taking the class at my local community college. It works out well, as I teach there (in a different department!) so I get to take classes for free But we have a pretty good photography department and a very nice art gallery that often features student and local professional photographers, so I feel lucky to have such a great local resource.

This particular class is only 1 credit hour and is a field work class (mostly we're out shooting with the class), so even if I had to pay for it, it would have been less than $100.

Check your local community college The other nice perk is that if you take classes at an accredited college, you qualify for student discounts on software (such as, from Adobe). All you have to do is prove you're currently a student.

A friend of mine lives in the city and is taking a photography class at a local community art group. It seems like a very good class - he's taking one on basic lighting. I'm not sure how much his class is costing, but he definitely seems to be getting his money's worth!

[phlyersphan]

Added motion blur to the shore line in the background.



I like it better, but am still iffy overall....

Maybe I'll try printing it out. Is it the colors that are bothering me? So drab...(thinking out loud!)

[MikeM]

I can't exactly put my finger on it, but to me it feels like I want the bird to be higher up in the photo. Maybe because it seems his shadow is missing/cut off at the bottom. I also think the eye doesn't know quite what to look at since there isn't much depth to the background (granted it is blurred) and the bird is just plain white without much detail. I have very, very little experience, but that's just what I think when I see the photo.

[snapdragon]

IMO there is too much blur , it is hard for the eyes to focus on the bird , and a camera could not stop a bird in the air & still have motion blur , I think that is the problem , the motion blur , if the background were just a soffened blur I think it would work much better . I cropped it a tad more to get rid of some of the land that was blured & ajusted the lighting , but now it most likely is too small . ,with the orginal soft focus may work .Good luck with your classes , sounds like fun .

[RexK_Cozumel]

Aside from the motion blur I think that a tighter crop would put more emphasis on the egret. Right now there is a lot of dead space which is suitable for a photo that you are going to use as a desktop but....

[phlyersphan]

snapdragon - i love it!!! thanks for the edit! i'm going to try to achieve something similar myself (i'm still VERY new to photoshop post-processing!)

i've gotten a couple other suggestions from friends to crop tighter as well.

thanks for the feedback!!! if i end up with a version of the egret that i like, i'll repost.

I think this is one of those "learning" photos!

[snapdragon]

Originally Posted by phlyersphan

snapdragon - i love it!!! thanks for the edit! i'm going to try to achieve something similar myself (i'm still VERY new to photoshop post-processing!)

i've gotten a couple other suggestions from friends to crop tighter as well.

thanks for the feedback!!! if i end up with a version of the egret that i like, i'll repost.

I think this is one of those "learning" photos!

, Glad you liked it , a bird in flight is not an easy shot ,& you nailed that bird , the blur of the back ground , that is the easy part to fix , catching that bird was the hard part . If you catch him again I would love to see it . I always have a hard time to find the bird in the view finder ,so I know that is the hard part . good luck .