Working on My Birds Shots - Continued

[Brownbear]

Here are a few images from last week...




I clipped the whites but I like the overall look, so no doubt will be trying again




Same swan but I darkened the background







And my dark artistic side...




I'm going to be taking a little break from Cambridge in Colour as I need to focus on practice my photography, learn more about editing, and hunker down to clean up 1000's of photos from my hard drive...

So I will not be posting as frequently as I have been these past few months but know that I will still be reading, voting, learning and enjoying everyone's photos and comments... As as soon as I manage that perfect bird in flight shot, I will post.

C&C always welcome but not needed. I know what I have to work on. Thank you to everyone at Cambridge.

[Dave Humphries]

I shall miss you, but have fun Christina.

As you plan, I have been out shooting 5 out of 5 weekend days recently - progress patchy - I'm sure you know the problem, just as you think you're improving, your expectations for the following shoot exceed the eventual reality and you come back down with a bump. Well that's what I am experiencing right now.

Once you're well practised, I think the answer is to be far more selective on when to press the shutter button - only exposing when the light, subject and background all come together at once. (and most importantly for wildlife, only when it is close enough)

Do check back - one day I'll post some pictures too
I know I'm overdue

Here's one I'll share, I was saving it to complete a series, but if you might miss it ...
http://www.pbase.com/dhumphries/image/150547031

Cheers,

[Suzan J]

Hi Christina: Don't take too long of a break. I have enjoyed watching your progress over the last few months. I believe we are somewhat alike, in that, we are both avid hobbyists who are trying to continually improve. It's good to know that others share your interests and goals and this forum has been very helpful to me. I will be waiting for your perfect BIF shot.

[Cantab]

Christina, I'll look forward to your active return. I always enjoy your photos and have learned many things from the threads you've started.

I love the picture of the mallard doing who knows what, perhaps the final approach before touchdown?

[NorthernFocus]

Nice job on the swans, Christina. White swans are a bane to me. There's someting about the texture of their feathers that really make it tough to get the right balance of protecting the highlights without making them look grey. The composition on the first shot is really good. One of the few times I won't complain about the bird looking out of the frame. Very nice.

I run hot and cold on forum participation myself. I've been unusually active recently. I usually shoot in the summer and do PP and share on the web during the off-season. Go have some fun. Good luck with cleaning up the files. I finally gave up and now I just embrace my state of confusion with thousands of uncatalogued shots

[Bobobird]

Now I know why the swan in #1 has a tear near the eye....

Come back soon.

[Otavio]

Break? Now? That swan in #1 is your best image, IMO. !. But it is surely up to you. Waiting for the next threads soon! Have a nice break, Christina!

[Mike Buckley]

I hope your time away from posting becomes everything you want it to be. It's always great to have a plan and yours is a terrific one.

[FlyingSquirrel]

Christina,

I echo what everyone else has said. I look forward to your return in full force. Best of luck, and most of all, have fun!

And btw, although there are many of your threads/images that I have not seen, from what I have seen, these appear to be some of your best photos.

[Shadowman]

Very nice "bird in flight" photos.

[Brownbear]

Thank you to all for your kind words (: and helpful replies...

Bruce, yes that Mallard was coming in for a touchdown.
Thank you John, Otavio, Susan and all.
Dan, your computer is going to crash if you keep that up. Besides at your level you should be leading by example, so clean up those photos... !

My original plan was to take photos all year long and keep posting them until I perfected my photography and editing skills... ie; my own Project 52. However, I've come to learn that I am great at taking and sharing photos but really bad at doing anything with them.

ie; I load a few hundred photos on my computer every week, edit a bit for the sake of learning, share a few, and load another batch, etc... These photos used to be just animal photos but most recently I got in my head that if I mastered the exposure of flowers (Mike, that little sidetrack is due to your flower photos ) it would stand me in good stead with multi-coloured birds. And then I see someone else's magnificent photo and I think I've got to try that, and so on... So I'm taking twice as many photos every week. I've been taking photos for 2-3 years, loading them and not doing much with them.

I have a 2TG computer with only 20 GB left on it and if I keep doing what I'm doing I will have to buy another computer by next week... I need to discipline myself to cull my photos, and work on the few gems I may find along the way, and trash the rest of them. It's truly not a project that I'm looking forward to but it has to be done. I've also been putting off finishing the LR tutorials that I started... I also need to review other nature photographers work, find a style of my own, and fine tune my photography skills. etc...

For sure, along the way I will be checking in, post any gems I find and any truly great photos of bears or birds that I manage along the way.

Once I've tackled the daunting project above I will be back.

[Brownbear]

And I will miss you and Cambridge in Colour.. You have a lifer here! I've learned so much from this forum and I'm truly appreciative.

Yes, my progress is patchy so it is good to know that is normal. It is just most recently I've learned that I have to be far more selective and will do.

Thank you for sharing... That is one beautiful bird photo! When you finish those swans and post them please send me a private message so I can see.

I shall miss you, but have fun Christina.

As you plan, I have been out shooting 5 out of 5 weekend days recently - progress patchy - I'm sure you know the problem, just as you think you're improving, your expectations for the following shoot exceed the eventual reality and you come back down with a bump. Well that's what I am experiencing right now.

Once you're well practised, I think the answer is to be far more selective on when to press the shutter button - only exposing when the light, subject and background all come together at once. (and most importantly for wildlife, only when it is close enough)

Do check back - one day I'll post some pictures too
I know I'm overdue

Here's one I'll share, I was saving it to complete a series, but if you might miss it ...
http://www.pbase.com/dhumphries/image/150547031

Cheers,

[Downrigger]

A loss for us. But your diagnosis makes sense, and your treatment plan looks to be very sound. I look forward to those "gems".

[Digital]

Christina, your motivation to perfect your art of photography is a value to be treasured.
You will be missed. Do hurry back.

Bruce

[jprzybyla]

I am sorry to read you will be leaving for a while, wishing you the best in all of your endeavors. Watch your light, shoot only what is close enough for your lens. Your photography exceeds your post processing skills, work on post processing. I still suggest these video tutorials as a good beginning for using Lightroom (which I believe is the best software for photographers).

http://en.elephorm.com/photography/lightroom.html