Project 52 by Bryan (BJ Denning)

My goal for this project will be to improve my landscape photos so that they have that stunning depth that I have seen so often on CiC, to explore portraiture (I'll have to work to find subjects), and to improve my post processing (to slow down and work at the subtle, layered changes).

To date, most of my photos have been of wildlife. So here is the baseline ...

I love raptors. While opportunistic, this juvenile red tail hawk landed on my patio, my goal was to capture that intense look in his eyes.
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7015/6...df7b6604_b.jpg
Camera Canon EOS 7D
Exposure 0.006 sec (1/160)
Aperture f/3.5
Focal Length 200 mm
ISO Speed 100

I was worried when I zoomed in that it was going to jump out and get me. Great capture. This is a good example of what great glass will allow you to do.

Ryo

Hi Bryan. You have a gorgeous subject there, sharp, great coloring, expressive, great DoF and a super background. It looks like you have also captured the eyes very well.

Post processing you say? Do you feel you are up to removing some of the the distracting twigs in such a way that we can't tell that they were ever there?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by FrankMi

Hi Bryan. You have a gorgeous subject there, sharp, great coloring, expressive, great DoF and a super background. It looks like you have also captured the eyes very well.

Post processing you say? Do you feel you are up to removing some of the the distracting twigs in such a way that we can't tell that they were ever there?

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I was thinking more of some of the layered effects -- that I have read some explain here, or that I have seen while browsing/studing portraiture. But you have to start somewhere. I only have PSE8, but I'll give it a try and post.

Thanks Ryo and thanks Frank for the encouragement.

Here's my attempt at removing the distracting twigs. Not horrible, but room for improvement. Practice makes perfect. 51 more weeks to go.
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7173/6...cc4219ef_b.jpg

Nice image, very sharp.

Landed on your patio??? That never happens around here. :( Beautiful shot and great job cleaning up the twigs. I think this would look great cropped as a head shot. You certainly captured a very intense look.

Wendy

This whole project is really starting to take shape and it's going to be fascinating to follow. This is, in whatever version, a very fine image. I like Wendy's idea of the crop tighter on the head.

That is a magnificent capture. You did a good job of removing those twigs.

Great work on the editing out of the twigs, though I felt the lend to a greater feel of depth in this image.
I like Wendy's idea of a tighter head crop, maybe from mid breast up and from the middle of the left wing? This would give a nice bust shot and also a good rule of thirds composition 1/3 to the left.

Wow Bryan! Really nice job on the post processing! I like it! :D

Very good clone job Bryan, there may be something to be said for leaving an odd one in to give depth, but choosing which isn't something I could do easily.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by ScoutR

Landed on your patio??? That never happens around here. :( Beautiful shot and great job cleaning up the twigs. I think this would look great cropped as a head shot. You certainly captured a very intense look.

Wendy

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Yep. It spent the better part of two days in my yard. I'm no expert, so I called the local sanctuary. One wing had a few feathers missing. Based on my description, the sanctuary said that it was a juvenile (due to size and markings) and that it had probablly wondered into anothers territory and lost the dispute. It flew around my yard, amoung the trees and my patio. The sanctuay said that it was not odd for them to find a nice place to hang out, it had been a dreary three days of overcast wind and rain, especially since it may have been disoriented from its dispute. By the end of the day it was gone.

Great idea on the crop. Here goes ...
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7175/6...773f672f_b.jpg

The more I look at this photo the more I see to improve -- it is not sharp enough (PP sharping cheats it a little). I'm looking for a sharpness like Conkerwoods "Barking Owl" Mini-Comp #489.

And for landscapes with the depth and clarity of Markvetnz "Tropical Breeze"

Love the energy, this is going to be fun!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by FrankMi

Wow Bryan! Really nice job on the post processing! I like it! :D

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Thanks again Frank for the encouragement.

Love the crop Bryan. I might try going right to the edge of the bird on both sides. That's just me though. This is an amazing shot no matter how you frame it. I'd be quite happy with the original

Wendy

Good job on the cloning, and I think I prefer the tighter crop. If it were my image I might add a very subtle vignette and brighten up the eyes a tad, but that's a personal preference. Taking nothing away, you have a beautiful shot here of a magnificent bird! Good luck with the project :-)

While the weather around me has been unseasonablly warm, I haven't had a chance to track down some interesting landscapes. So perhaps this project is getting off a little slow.

I did make it out to a local conservation park. I live along a migatory corridor for eagles. Unfortunately with the warm weather, they are staying further north. However I did get this shot of a local sanctuary eagle that is used for education programs. His name is liberty. He is very tolerant of people (generally).

I was searching for the majesty that imbodies the States national bird. The background was horrible, so I did try some more post-processing.

Canon EOS 5D Mark II
0.005 sec (1/200)
f/4.0
105 mm
ISO Speed 400
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7019/6...aa5a1481_b.jpg

Hi Bryan. The detail in both the bright whites and dark browns is perfect. Great catch light in the eyes and a handsome pose! I have tried to get bird shots this clear and have failed miserably. It is super to know that it CAN be done. Another great post processing job on the entire image!

Fantastic detail in that shot. He seems very tolerant :D

I have absolutely zero experience with portraits. I have read Colin's great tutorial, but lack subjects and even the basic equipment. A local photo "meet-up" recently had a portrait session. The leader owns a studio, the first session was with one light, and a variety of models (two boys, two girls).

This is one of the shots. I'm learning poses, one of the models was average, the others were fairly new. So positioning and such was an experiment. I'm also still practicing post processing, which is very much different on portraits than landscapes and animals.

Canon EOS 5D Mark II
0.008 sec (1/125)
f/8.0
58 mm
ISO Speed 200

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7164/6...6a24cecc_z.jpg