What’s Up?
Bob Eastman and I have again been enjoying some great photography here at Indian Lake Estates. The story of the 80-pound road-killed wild boar is hilarious though it did not really generate any good photographic chances for us. But we got some great stuff on Sunday morning at a road-kill cafe set-up. And that night, the cranes danced up a storm atop the small hill just to the north of the parking circle.
Today is Monday 16 December 2024. We will be headed down to the lake early. Whatever you choose to do, we hope that like us, you choose to be happy and have fun.
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Ordinary or Special?
In the recent Keep or Delete? Ordinary or Special? blog post here, I wrote:
Is it possible to create a special image of a crane standing there doing nothing (Images #1 or 2), or of a group of cranes standing in the same spot preening (Image #3)? Please click on each of today’s three featured images to enlarge them and then decide if any or all of them are in any way special. If yes, what factors make them special to you?
Seven folks commented. All the comments were appreciated. Two went with Image #1 as their favorite, two liked Image #3 best. My pick of the litter was Image #2. Friend and multiple IPT veteran David Pugsley won the best-by-a-mile comment contest when he posted this:
David Pugsley/December 12, 2024 at 9:56pm
Number 1 Loves
– the two layer background
– the head well above the break
– the clean bill
– the parallel to the sensor HA
Number 2 Loves
– the TRIPLE layer background
– the body situated in the middle layer
– the perfect HA
Number 3 Loves
– the family group
– two perfect HAs and one good look at the red cap
In summary: any sharp, well constructed image of a sandhill crane, one of my favorites, is a winner in my book.
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Image #1: Sandhill Crane adult head and neck portrait |
What I Loved About Image #1
1- the stunning color, contrast, and sharpness.
2- that with one stop of additional depth of field, the entire bill tip was sharp. That, as David Pugsley noted above, due to the fact that the bill was almost perfectly parallel to the imaging sensor.
3- the placement of the subject in the frame.
4- the perfectly clean bill (with only a bit of clean-up help from me).
5- the slightly raised gray “crest” feathers on the back of the head that abut and accent the red cap.
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Image #2: Sandhill Crane adult standing there doing nothing in relatively flat light pretty much doing nothing |
What I Loved About Image #2
1- the soft light.
2- the soft light!
3- how the soft light, the sharp subject, the narrow depth of field, and the lovely, soft, de-focused background combine to give the image a feeling of peacefulness and serenity.
4- the soft light.
5- the ever so slight head turn toward the viewer.
6- the three distinct layers of background color.
7- the image design.
As noted above, Image #2 was my favorite of the three.
Bokeh
My first inclination was to use the word “bokeh” when talking about the Image #2. First off, nobody is sure how to pronounce the word. A web search offers several alternatives. The video might or might not have the definitive answer, but it is a fun watch.
Not only are most folks not sure how to say the word, not everyone agrees on its meaning. Some state that it refers only to the quality of out-of-focus specular highlights, while others are sure that it refers to the quality of the out-of-focus areas in the background. Some say that bokeh is determined by the focal length and aperture, while others believe that bokeh has more to do with the construction of a given lens. Check out the Bokeh: A Term that Means More than Blurry and Fuzzy article by Allan Weitz on the B&H Explora page em>herehttps://www.bhphotovideo.com/explora/photography/tips-and-solutions/bokeh-a-term-that-means-more-than-blurry-and-fuzzy. Mr. Weitz makes some interesting points along with more than a few that I do not agree with.
When it comes to bokeh, I am not sure of much. Be sure, however, to see the incredible bokeh produced by the Sony 400mm f/2.8 GM lens in the next blog post.
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Image #3: Sandhill Cranes — a family preening session |
What I Loved About Image #3
1- the arrangement of the three cranes.
2- the relative sharpness of the two closest cranes.
3- the two perfect head angles and the third, very interesting head angle with just a sliver of the bird’s right eye visible.
4- the soft light.
5- the soft, out of focus background.
6- the difference in the color of the caps of two adults (red) and the color of the cap of the single young crane (on the right), more pink.
What I Do Not Like About Image #3
1- there is not enough room on the bottom of the frame below the bird’s virtual feet that are hidden in the grass.
2- the yellowed, dead grasses along the bottom frame edge as I find them distracting.
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