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This flight shot of a Bottle-nosed Dolphin was created with the Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II lens (hand held at 120mm) and the Canon EOS-1D X). ISO 400. Evaluative metering +2/3 stop: 1/4000 sec. at f/4.5 in Av mode. Two sensors below the central sensor/AI Servo/Rear Focus on the water at the horizon line active at the moment of exposure. Click here if you missed the Rear Focus Tutorial. Be sure to click on the image to see a larger version. |
In the “Flying Dolphin or Photoshop Creation?” blog post I wrote, referring to the image above, “Was the airborne dolphin cut and pasted from another image? If you have an opinion that you would like to share, please leave a comment and share your evidence either way.”
Several folks, most notably and recently Wayne Rundell, who gave a detailed analysis as to how he knew that the dolphin was indeed cut and pasted into the image, felt that the image was phony….
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This is the BreezeBrowser Main View screen capture for the flying dolphin image above. |
Tale Told by the BreezeBrowser Main View Screen Capture
Immediately above is the BreezeBrowser Main View screen capture for the image in question. If you have good eyes or if you click on the screen capture to view the larger version you will see, at the top of the frame, that the file name is “_Q8R9580 Marchena Island, Galapagos.CR2” The CR2 indicates that the image file is a RAW file. Thus, the image in question is actually genuine, a decent crop of the original file but otherwise pretty much straight out of camera.
The illuminated red square shows that the selected sensor was active at the moment of exposure. I give myself a quick pat on the back for figuring that focusing on the relatively distant horizon line would yield a sharp dolphin.
Note: in Breezebrowser you need to make sure to check Show Focus Points under View to activate this feature. To see the focus points in DPP check AF Point under View or hit Alt L. Regular readers know that I use and depend on BreezeBrowser every day of the year. It allows me to sort my keepers and deletes the rejects faster than any other browsing program. We use it on the main computer in the home office to catalog our images file-drawer style. And the companion program, Downloader Pro allows me to download my images quickly and conveniently. It automatically adds my IPTC data and the shooting location. I have it set up to create a folder named by the Month/date/year. The Breezebrowser/Downloader Pro combo saves me many hours each week. To learn earn more or to purchase this great PC only program, click here. To find out about running BreezeBrowser on a Mac, click here.
The Funny Thing…
The funny thing is that when I began writing the Flying Dolphin blog post I had no intention of asking if it were real or phony. That was an afterthought. I have long believed several things about Photoshop:
1-If you tell folks what you did, everyone will spot the obvious flaws, the crude mistakes that you make.
2-If you do not say anything until after the fact nobody knows anything.
3-If you show a straight out of the camera image and ask if it is real or phony some folks will invent or image stuff to prove that it is phony. That is what happened here said the devious man. 🙂
And More…
In the “Oh Baby; Thanks Pat!”blog post here, the first two Common Tern chick images were my favorites by far? The first for its tiny size and the utter helplessness portrayed. The second for the obvious reason: the huge fish. The first image is one of my all time favorite family jewels. It will be one of 35 prints in an exhibit of my work that will be on display at Mass Audubon’s Museum of American Bird Art this fall. Learn more about Mass Audubon here.
Stay tuned for additional details and info on a series of events including a full day seminar on September 30, 2013.
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Typos
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Funny, nobody considered a wave between Artie and the Dolphin.
Haaaa, haaaa, ha….
I love it Artie. It’s funny how we, as observers, when given a choice to pick a path, tend to search out clues to support the direction we took. Of course, with your reputation, if you had said this was “as shot”, I would have no reason to not believe you. I have to laugh at myself a little, because all along I kept thinking…”This might be an untouched photo and I could be wrong”, but I had to pick a path, and given two choices, I choose incorrectly. Once I choose to say this was a “cut and paste” image, I felt I had to stick with that and find something that in my mind to explain it.
In the end, I had a queezy feeling I picked the wrong path.
I love it!!!
Nice job and thanks,
Wayne
Thanks for being a good sport and a gentleman as well. And yes, I baited the hook and you bit :).
Artie, I was even out in the yard with my Canon EOS 7D and my EF 100-400mm f4.5-5.6 IS lens, trying to duplicate your exposure with the same camera settings. Trying to be Bill Nye the science guy and come up with some substantiating evidence that you had manipulated this shot.
My lord, what a person will do sometimes to try to prove a point. LOL.
I am still chuckling at myself, but at the same time I have learned a little bit more.
See Ya,
Wayne
Do you have flying dolphins in your backyard??? Actually, the original was about 1/3 to 2/3 stop underexposed.
ps: There ain’t no evidence.
Flying dolphins in my back yard? Not a chance here in Northern Wisconsin, but if I do see any, I will give you a call ;>)
Congrats on being in the right place at the right time, and capturing your flying dolphin. Pretty cool.
WR
Gee Artie, that head angle on the Dolphin is not good!
You are right. It’s head is angled away 1/2 degree.
Awesome shot artie and thanks for the focus tip. Your giving is very much appreciated!
Thanks for your kind words Rob. Please remember to use our affiliate links for you major and minor purposes for stuff that we do not carry :). later and love, artie
Artie, a question. It’s a great photograph. PERIOD. What difference does it make (other than to you) whether it is all natural or Photoshopped.
I ask this question not to be cantankerous more in a philosophical vein. If I love the image why should I care how it was made?
Jack Goodman
Hi Jack, Thanks! I hear you. My position is that if the image does not accurately reflect what you saw in the viewfinder when you pressed the shutter button then you need to let folks know. That’s what I always choose to do here. With this image I could not resist setting a trap :).