{"id":6938,"date":"2011-09-23T21:05:41","date_gmt":"2011-09-24T01:05:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.birdsasart-blog.com\/?p=6938"},"modified":"2011-09-26T20:00:58","modified_gmt":"2011-09-27T00:00:58","slug":"something-from-nothing-sillhouette-lesson","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.birdsasart-blog.com\/baa\/2011\/09\/23\/something-from-nothing-sillhouette-lesson\/","title":{"rendered":"Something From Nothing Sillhouette Lesson"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n
ngg_shortcode_0_placeholder<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
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Tripod-mounted Canon 800mm f\/5.6L IS lens<\/a>, the 1.4X III TC<\/a>, and the EOS-1D Mark IV<\/a>. ISO 800. Evaluative metering at zero: 1\/500 sec. at f\/25 in Manual mode. Central Sensor\/Rear Focus AI Servo AF and re-compose. Read on to learn about rear focus. <\/p>\n

Lens\/TC\/Camera Body Micro-Adjustment:<\/a> 0. <\/p>\n

For a greater appreciation of the image, click on the photo. Then click on the enlarged version to close it. <\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n

Something From Nothing Sillhouette Lesson<\/h3>\n

In last night’s post, Something From Nothing<\/a>, I presented two very washed out images and asked “Which would you keep, and why?”<\/p>\n

Lots of folks chipped in with relevant comments but perhaps none more telling than David Pugsley who wrote, “I prefer the HA of the gull in A, but prefer the positioning of the sandpipers (?) in B. Regardless, I suspect you’re going to blow us away with an optimized image. \ud83d\ude42 <\/p>\n

I kept both images. I converted B first increasing the the color temperature, contrast, exposure, and Vibrance and then pulling the black slider far to the right. I was most of the way to a nice silhouette. To convert the second image I chose “Previous Conversion” from the Basic dropdown menu. Then I used a Quick Mask to bring the head of the gull in A (that one had a a perfect head angle with the head feathers blowing up a bit) into frame B (which as many felt, had the nicest arrangement of Sanderlings). Kudos to those who mentioned the difference in head angles and those who like arrangement of the sandpipers better in B. Once I had the new head in place–that was as easy as pie–I blackened the blacks with a Levels adjustment while holding down the Alt key. That was followed by lots of beach and specular highlight clean-up mostly with the Patch Tool, the Clone Stamp Tool, and the Spot Healing Brush. Everything above of course as described in detail in Digital Basics<\/a>. Both Subhrashis and Bill Richardson both pretty much mapped out my battle plan (but missed the head replacement deal. <\/p>\n

Tonight’s Questions:<\/h2>\n

1: What do you think of the optimized image above?
\n2: Do you like the Sanderling that is right below the Herring Gull? <\/p>\n

See how others answered those questions in my BPN post here<\/a>. <\/p>\n

Support both the Bulletins and the Blog by making all your B & H purchases here<\/a>.<\/strong><\/h3>\n

More and more folks are earning multiple contest entries with their B & H purchases. See here<\/a> for details on that. Eleven great categories, 34 winning and honored images, and prize pools<\/a> valued in excess of $20,000. Click here<\/a> to visit the competition home page. <\/p>\n

Shopper’s Guide<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Below is a list of the gear used to create the image in today’s blog post. Thanks a stack to all who have used the Shopper’s Guide links to purchase their gear as a thank you for all the free information that we bring you on the Blog and in the Bulletins. Before you purchase anything be sure to check out the advice in our Shopper’s Guide<\/a>. <\/p>\n

Canon 800mm f\/5.L IS lens.<\/a> Right now this is my all time favorite super-telephoto lens.
\nCanon 1.4X III Teleconverter<\/a>. Designed to work best with the new Series II super-telephoto lenses.
\nCanon EOS-1D Mark IV professional digital camera body.<\/a> My two Mark IVs are my workhorse digital camera bodies. <\/p>\n

And from the BAA On-line Store:<\/strong><\/h2>\n

LensCoats<\/a>. I have a LensCoat on each of my big lenses to protect them from nicks and thus increase their re-sales value. All my big lens LensCoat stuff is in Hardwood Snow pattern.
\nLegCoat Tripod Leg Covers.<\/a> I have four tripods active and each has a Hardwood Snow LegCoat on it to help prevent further damage to my tender shoulders \ud83d\ude42
\nGitzo GT3530LS Tripod.<\/a> This one will last you a lifetime.
\nMongoose M3.6 Tripod Head.<\/a> Right now this is the best tripod head around for use with lenses that weigh less than 9 pounds. For heavier lenses, check out the Wimberley V2 head<\/a>.
\nCR-80 Replacement Foot for Canon 800<\/a>. When using the 800 on a Mongoose as I do, replacing the lens foot with this accessory lets the lens sit like a dog whether pointed up or down and prevents wind-blown spinning of your lens on breezy days by centering the lens directly over the tripod.
\n Double Bubble Level.<\/a> You will find one in my camera’s hot shoe whenever I am not using flash.
\nBe sure to check out our camera body User’s Guides here<\/a>.
\nThe Lens Align Mark II.<\/a> I use the Lens Align Mark II pretty much religiously to micro-adjust all of my gear an average of once a month and always before a major trip. Enjoy our free comprehensive tutorial here.<\/a>
\nCanon EOS-1D Mark IV User’s Guide<\/a>. Learn to use your Mark IV the way that I use mine. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

ngg_shortcode_1_placeholder <\/p>\n

Tripod-mounted Canon 800mm f\/5.6L IS lens, the 1.4X III TC, and the EOS-1D Mark IV. ISO 800. Evaluative metering at zero: 1\/500 sec. at f\/25 in Manual mode. Central Sensor\/Rear Focus AI Servo AF and re-compose. Read on to learn about rear focus. <\/p>\n

Lens\/TC\/Camera Body Micro-Adjustment: 0. <\/p>\n

For a greater appreciation […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[90,28,22,5,24,15,97],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6938","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-90","category-800mm-f5-6","category-bpn-info","category-educational","category-mkiv","category-photoshop-tips","category-series-iii-tcs","odd"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.birdsasart-blog.com\/baa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6938","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.birdsasart-blog.com\/baa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.birdsasart-blog.com\/baa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.birdsasart-blog.com\/baa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.birdsasart-blog.com\/baa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6938"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.birdsasart-blog.com\/baa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6938\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.birdsasart-blog.com\/baa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6938"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.birdsasart-blog.com\/baa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6938"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.birdsasart-blog.com\/baa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6938"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}