Weekly Photo Challenge: Grand

The prompt for the WordPress photo challenge asked  participants to think about not only the size of something but its impact when considering what to submit for this week’s theme, grand.  So, I thought small.  This photo is of an Eastern Screech Owl, a version of which is available on Picfair.

ISO 400 260mm 0ev f/5.6 1/400

If you are a regular reader of this blog this image is familiar to you.  I originally created this image as a full color HDR image, if you would like to read about that original version click here.  This particular version I created in the last week because we did some lessons on HDR in my Photoshop class and I created a series of new images for an assignment but then came back to this image to do something a bit different.

Even though it is a Photoshop class, my preferred software for HDR is Photomatix, so that is what I used to create this image.  When shooting this photo, I used the exposure bracketing feature in my camera, so I had three exposures, one light, one dark, and one in the middle.  If you’d like a bit of an explanation of HDR, there is a brief overview here.

For the image you see above, I already had created a color HDR version.  I went back to my bracketed photos and created a black and white version.  With my two HDR versions on my desktop, I then opened them in Photoshop.  Each of the photos is on its own layer.  Then I spent a bit of time creating different combinations until I came up with this version.  In this version, the black and white is on top of the color version.  I put a mask on the black and white layer, and with my paintbrush painted over the eyes, revealing the color version underneath.  That’s it. Probably the simplest version I worked on, but the one I liked the best.

This particular photo I took at World Bird Sanctuary, which if you are ever in the St. Louis area, is a great place to visit with your camera.  I’m sorry to say, that this little owl passed away this week.  A tribute is here, and as a regular visitor to World Bird Sanctuary I can say that this bird was an excellent ambassador for the work they do there.  A little bird that made a grand impact indeed.

So what do you think of the combined HDR version? I’d love to hear your thoughts or questions below.  If you don’t have anything to say about this particular photo but would love to leave a comment, take a moment to wish me good luck on my Photoshop final exam which is coming up this week!

Cheers!

Thinking about White Balance Settings

Having a strategy regarding how you use your white balance settings in your camera can be a good way to insure that you get the photo you want later.  Many, but not all, cameras give you options, and being aware of when to take advantage of those options can save you some time in your post editing process.  I think it is worth the time to look through the manual of your camera and think about how you might use the different settings.  Today, I am going to talk about the two options I use most frequently, auto and custom.

Here is my defense of auto white balance, and when I say defense I say that because almost every photographer is made to feel like using an auto version of anything on their camera makes them less of a “real” photographer.  So, here it goes, my auto white balance setting works pretty well.  That’s the short version.  The longer version is that pretty much any photo I am taking for my artistic work I am going to at least consider changing the white balance in my post editing process.  Auto tends to give me a good solid starting point.  This photo was taken with the white balance set to auto:

ISO 400 160mm 0ev f/5.6 1/400

Custom white balance is a setting I use all the time when I am taking photos inside ice arenas.  I spend a lot of time shooting hockey games.  When I started using custom white balance in those situations, I used a grey card.  I would prop it up on the side of the glass and take a photo of it.  My camera then allows me to choose that photo and use it to set the white balance setting of other photos from it.  That worked pretty well.  Then it was suggested to me that I try and shoot a photo of the ice and use that photo as a base for my white balance settings.  I like the way that works, here is an example:

ISO 2500 0ev f/1.8 1/2000

This isn’t such a great photograph, but you can see detail in both the white and blacks of the uniform, and that is because the white balance here is set pretty well.  If you have ever shot in a hockey arena, you know the lighting is horrible and that getting a good exposure can be pretty tough.  Having your white balance set properly is a step in the right direction.

How about you? do you have a white balance setting you use frequently? maybe you don’t consider white balance at all?  Feel free to leave a comment below, and if you have written a blog post about it, feel free to leave a link.

Cheers!

Travel Theme: What color are your feathers?

The theme this week at Where’s My backpack? is multicolored.  I thought right away of this photo I have of an Eastern Screech Owl:

ISO 400 260mm 0ev f/5.6 1/400

It has lovely colors but the interesting thing to me is that this bird can also have more of a grey bark color.  Same bird, but it depends on where it lives when it comes to what coloring it has in its feathers.  I have a link here to some information about the bird, and also a photo of the dramatically different way it can look.

As for this photo, I took it at the World Bird Sanctuary in St. Louis. I added in the link in part because if you are in the area on November 3rd they are hosting a Camera Day.  On that day they will take many of their birds and place them in natural settings.  It is a great day to get photos.  I took the photo above on a camera day this past spring.

Speaking of this photo, it is actually three photos merged into one using HDR. So, I took three exposures, one dark, one light and one in the middle, and merged them together using Photomatix. In Photoshop I did a bit of sharpening and cropping.

This owl is part of a series that I did of birds of prey, they are here for viewing and purchase.  I have blogged about a few of the other photos too; the Long-crested Eagle, Eurasian Eagle-Owl, and the Barn Owl.

So what do you think of this little one? and it is a very small owl!  Feel free to leave comments below.

Cheers!

Friday, a work in progress

Today I am writing about a photo that I shot a few weeks ago but have just started editing:

ISO 320 50mm 0ev f/1.8 1/160

This is Twig, a 19 year-old Eastern Screech Owl who lives at the World Bird Sanctuary in St. Louis Missouri.  I put the link in for their website and would highly recommend a visit if you happen to be in the area.  Twig sometimes takes naps on the floor of the enclosure causing concern for more than one visitor.  It was unusual for Twig to be this close to the front of the enclosure so this is probably the best photo I have.

As far as the editing goes, first I started in Aperture where I tried to remove as much of the enclosure as possible.  Then I made three copies in order to change the exposure.  So one version I set at -1.33, one at +.33, and one at +1.33.  I then put the three versions in Photomatix and the image you see above is a fusion of the three copies.

I am thinking I am not finished messing with this image.  I would like to attempt to do a better job of removing the enclosure.  I would also like to create a version or two that I like better in Photomatix.  I know I can come up with a better image, so I think I will keep working at it.

Happy Friday to you, and I hope that the projects you are working on are going well.

Cheers!