Using the Crop Tool Creatively to Get to the Crux of an Image
Learning to see the image within an image is an important skill. Check out the before and after photos in this short video to see how artie uses the Crop Tool to eliminate clutter, expand canvas when needed, and get right down to the essence of his raw files. In addition, learn about using the Remove Tool to smooth out distracting background elements while maintaining the integrity of the natural history moment you have photographed.
Learn about Digital Basics II and the Digital Basics III Video Series here.
Your Call?
Which two of today’s featured images are your favorites and why did you make your choices?
In the Last Blog Post
In the last blog post, Things You Might Not Realize …, here, my two favorite images were Image #10: Black-bellied Whistling Duck vertical with complete reflection, and Image #12: Sandhill Crane colt about 8 weeks old — head and neck portrait. The former for its perfection and the latter for all the detail and the sweet light. Thanks to the few who commented.
What’s Up?
As you will see below, photography at ILE has continued to be excellent. The whistling ducks are piling in next to the pier early and late and the crane colts are growing by leaps and bounds. At least two, however, have perished. The Middle Pair on the South Peninsula lost one, as did the Shy Pair on the North Field. On average, about 50% of the crane chicks that hatch do not make it to fledging.
Until two days ago, it had not rained in Central Florida for about two months — bone dry. And sunny and hot. On Friday and Saturday afternoon it poured and filled up my pool. On Sunday evening at about 5:30, it quit drizzling so I headed down to the pier to take a walk. Before I got there it started raining and then it poured and let up and then another monsoon. And so on and so fourth. Shooting from my SUV for the next 75 minutes, I created 1487 photos and had more fun than should be legal. Additional details and photos at some point. That is, if any are worth keeping.
Today is Monday 12 May 2025. The forecast is for SSE at 10mph with continued rain early turning cloudy. I cannot wait to get down there! Mishael Voisin is flying in from Saskatchewan today to join me for a week of photography here at ILE. He did a single morning with me at Stick Marsh and was quite impressed with the instruction that he received. We spoke today and I told him that he was welcome to postpone the trip or join me in Jacksonville because the wind forecast for this week is looking mostly west, less than ideal. And with morning sun, that is pretty bad for bird photography. But as he wants to learn, he would not be deterred. I for one am glad that he is coming. Him too!
Whatever you choose to do I hope that you choose to have as much fun as I will be having.
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Gear Questions and Advice
Too many folks attending BAA IPTs and dozens of photographers whom I see in the field and on BPN, are — out of ignorance — using the wrong gear, especially when it comes to tripods and more especially, tripod heads. And the same is true in spades when ordering new camera bodies or lenses. My advice will often save you some serious money and may help you avoid making a seriously bad choice. Please know that I am always glad to answer your gear questions via e-mail. If you are desperate, you can try me on my cell at 863-221-2372. Please leave a message and shoot me a text if I do not pick up.
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This image was created on 9 May 2025 down by the lake near my home at Indian Lake Estates, FL. Seated on a pillow on the sand, I used the hand held Sony FE 300mm f/2.8 GM OSS Lens (Sony E) with the Sony FE 1.4x Teleconverter and The Latest Greatest Sony Flagship Body, the a1 II Mirrorless Camera. The exposure was determined via Zebras with ISO on the thumb dial. ISO 3200: 1/1600 sec. at f/4 (wide open) in Manual mode. RawDigger showed that the exposure was dead solid perfect. AWB at 7:04:04am on a faintly sunny morning. Wide/AF-C with Bird Eye/Face Detection enabled performed adequately. Click on the image to see a larger, sharper high resolution version Image #1: Black-bellied Whistling Duck taking flight |
The 300mm f/2.8/1.4X/a-1 ii Rig
Of the four gear combos that were used to create today’s eight featured images, the 300 is the easiest to use and by far, the easiest to hand hold for extended periods. It is just about my favorite flight lens as long as the birds are reasonably close.
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This image was also created on 9 May 2025 down by the lake near my home at Indian Lake Estates, FL. Again, seated on a pillow on the sand, I used the hand held Sony FE 300mm f/2.8 GM OSS Lens (Sony E) with the Sony FE 1.4x Teleconverter and The Latest Greatest Sony Flagship Body, the a1 II Mirrorless Camera. The exposure was determined via Zebras with ISO on the thumb dial. ISO 3200: 1/3200 sec. at f/4 (wide open) in Manual mode. RawDigger showed that the exposure was perfect. AWB at 7:07:18am on a then cloudy morning. Wide/AF-C with Bird Eye/Face Detection enabled performed adequately. Click on the image to see a larger, sharper high resolution version Image #2: Black-bellied Whistling Ducks squabbling |
Them’s Fighting Words
The BBWDs sing like songbirds. It seems strange, therefore, that they are so pugnacious. For the last few days, I have witnessed several fights, some of them lasting as long as a minute or two. Most begin with both bird flying up and flailing at each other with their feet. Some luck is required to isolate the combatants and wind up with a decent look at both heads.
As I mentioned in the video, this pair battled well left of sun angle but I went for it anyway, in part because of a bit of cloudiness to the east that softened the light.
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This image was also created on 9 May 2025 down by the lake near my home at Indian Lake Estates, FL. Seated on a pillow left of the pier, I used the hand held Sony FE 400-800mm f/6.3-8 G OSS lens (Sony E) (at 800mm) and The Latest Greatest Sony Flagship Body, the a1 II Mirrorless Camera. The exposure was determined by Zebras with ISO on the rear wheel — ISO 2500: 1/4000 second at f/8 (wide open) in Manual mode. RawDigger showed that the exposure was dead solid perfect. AWB at 8:15:06am on then mostly sunny morning. Wide AF/C with Bird-Eye/Face Detection performed perfectly. Click on the image to enjoy the larger, inexplicably sharper high-res version. Image #3: Black-bellied Whistling Duck flapping after bath |
Late to the Party
I was looking to my right when I noticed this bird flapping after its bath right down sun angle (to my left). I framed and acquired focus as quickly as possible and the bird wound up a bit lower in the frame than I would have preferred. It was a bit or work to add canvas to the bottom.
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This image was also created on 9 May 2025 down by the lake near my home at Indian Lake Estates, FL. Seated on a pillow left of the pier, I used the hand held Sony FE 400-800mm f/6.3-8 G OSS lens (Sony E) (at 400mm) and The Latest Greatest Sony Flagship Body, the a1 II Mirrorless Camera. The exposure was determined by Zebras with ISO on the rear wheel — ISO 2000: 1/3200 second at f/8 (wide open) in Manual mode. RawDigger showed that the exposure was dead solid perfect. AWB at 8:48:46am on then mostly sunny morning. Wide AF/C with Bird-Eye/Face Detection performed perfectly. Click on the image to enjoy the larger, inexplicably sharper high-res version. Image #4: Black-bellied Whistling Duck braking to land |
Zoom Lens Flight Versatility
I was lucky to be at only 400mm for this image. Had I zoomed in even a bit, I would have clipped a wing for sure.
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This image was created on 10 May 2025 down by the lake near my home at Indian Lake Estates, FL. Seated on grass in the North Field, I used the knee-pod technique with the hand held Sony FE 400mm f/2.8 GM OSS Lens with the Sony FE 1.4x Teleconverter and The Latest Greatest Sony Flagship Body, the a1 II Mirrorless Camera. The exposure was determined via Zebras with ISO on the thumb dial. ISO 2500: 1/1600 sec. at f/4 (wide open) in Manual mode. RawDigger showed that the exposure was perfect. AWB at 8:05:20am on a cloudy morning. Wide/AF-C with Bird Eye/Face Detection enabled performed adequately. Click on the image to see a larger, sharper high resolution version Image #5: Sandhill Crane colt foraging |
Why Not the Toe-Pod Technique?
I went with the knee pod technique to avoid the straight line of the bottom edge of the marsh vegetation that would have cut the bird somewhere had I gotten lower. Even at f/4 that can be a distraction. Lower is not always better.
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This image was created on 10 May 2025 down by the lake near my home at Indian Lake Estates, FL. Seated on a pillow left of the pier, I used the hand held (!) Sony FE 600mm f/4 GM OSS lens and The Latest Greatest Sony Flagship Body, the a1 II Mirrorless Camera. The exposure was determined via Zebras with ISO on the thumb dial. ISO 2000: 1/4000 sec. at f/4 (wide open) in Manual mode. RawDigger showed that the exposure was perfect. AWB at 8:41:21am on a cloudy morning. Wide/AF-C with Bird Eye/Face Detection enabled performed adequately. Click on the image to see a larger, sharper high resolution version Image #6: Black-bellied Whistling Ducks squabbling |
Things Got Really Violent
After I made several images with the engaged ducks somewhat isolated, one bird bit the neck of its opponent and refused to let go. I got lots of acceptably sharp images but without a clean look at at least one face, I deleted them all.
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This image was also created on 10 May 2025 down by the lake near my home at Indian Lake Estates, FL. Again, seated on a pillow left of the pier, I used the hand held (!) Sony FE 600mm f/4 GM OSS lens and The Latest Greatest Sony Flagship Body, the a1 II Mirrorless Camera. The exposure was determined via Zebras with ISO on the thumb dial. ISO 2000: 1/4000 sec. at f/4 (wide open) in Manual mode. RawDigger showed that the exposure was perfect. AWB at 8:42:54am on a cloudy morning. Wide/AF-C with Bird Eye/Face Detection enabled performed adequately. Click on the image to see a larger, sharper high resolution version Image #7: Black-bellied Whistling Duck beat-down |
Crops from Horizontal Images Can Save the Day
As you saw in the video, there are lots of ducks too close together near the pier. Isolating a fight is a big challenge. With several of today’s images, a variety of crops (vertical, square, or boxy) were used to create a cleaner looking more focused image.
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This image was created on 11 May 2025 down by the lake near my home at Indian Lake Estates, FL. Working from the front seat of my SUV, I used the BLUBB--supported Sony FE 600mm f/4 GM OSS lens with the a href=”https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1222777-REG/sony_sel14tc_fe_1_4x_teleconverter.html/BI/6633/KBID/7226/kw/SOTC14/DFF/d10-v2-t1-xSOTC14″ target=”_blank” rel=”noopener”>Sony FE 1.4x Teleconverter and The Latest Greatest Sony Flagship Body, the a1 II Mirrorless Camera. The exposure was determined via Zebras with ISO on the thumb dial. ISO 2000: 1/500 sec. at f/5.6 (wide open) in Manual mode. RawDigger showed that the exposure was perfect. AWB at 8:29:49am on a cloudy morning. Wide/AF-C with Bird Eye/Face Detection enabled performed adequately. Click on the image to see a larger, sharper high resolution version Image #8: Sandhill Crane colt double overhead wing stretch |
Why Not Get Down on the Ground?
The answer here is the same as it was with Image #5. By shooting from a relatively elevated position, I avoid the straight horizontal line depicting the bottom edge of the bushes and tall grasses that border the marsh.
Typos
With all blog posts, feel free to e-mail or to leave a comment regarding any typos or errors.
I’m not gonna pick ’em, because they’re all crazy good!
Thanks, Anthony. I can say that I disagree. But I will share my two top picks in the next post.
with love, artie