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Eyeing the Setting Sun
Eyeing the Setting Sun
HarveyG


Photograph Information Photographer's Comments
Challenge: In the Garden II (Basic Editing)
Camera: Nikon D90
Lens: Vivitar MF 500mm f/6.3 Mirror (Reflex)
Location: My 3 acre plot aka garden, South Africa
Date: Feb 21, 2010
Aperture: f/6.3
ISO: 400
Shutter: 1/1000s
Galleries: Nature, Birds
Date Uploaded: Feb 21, 2010

 Incredibly difficult (hand-held) shot to take with a Manual Focus Mirror Lens at sunset. I hope there's one or two who noticed the typical Mirror Lens donut 'bokeh' aargh background and understood what it takes to get this shot in low light hand-held and still get some sort of focus on a very shallow f/6.3

The "lens" is a fully manual focus, multicoated, catadioptric (reflex), fixed aperture “Super” Telephoto Mirror. Read my Mirror article here.

The bird, a Crowned Lapwing or Plover, only stands still for a few seconds and you have to follow, manually focus, get shutter speed and ISO pre-set correctly as well as White Balance as he constantly moves in and out of the shade then to the soft late afternoon sun.

I have a family of four in my garden. The best watchdogs ever!

PP Steps:
Export from RAW to JPG
Curves: Input +6
Adjustment Layer / Color Balance: +10 -20 -20
Crop 760px x 505px
USM: Amount 75% / Radius 25.2 pixels / Threshold 100 levels
Flatten
Borders
SFW Maximum Quality JPG

And Eyeing (US) can also be spelled Eying (UK)

Statistics
Place: 67 out of 160
Avg (all users): 5.3382
Avg (commenters): 5.6667
Avg (participants): 5.3103
Avg (non-participants): 5.3493
Views since voting: 1160
Views during voting: 290
Votes: 204
Comments: 5
Favorites: 0

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AuthorThread
 03/24/2010 01:26:11 PM
very nice, sharper than I would have thought possible - makes me want to buy a mirror lens!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 03/03/2010 09:46:15 AM
I love the bird & the moody lighting-well done !
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 Comments Made During the Challenge
03/01/2010 03:04:16 PM
Bird is lovely. Background confusing. Garden relation unclear.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 02/27/2010 07:30:36 PM
That's a beautiful bird.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 02/24/2010 06:17:42 AM
The bokeh makes the location really ambiguous and does not evoke an "In the Garden" feel for me.
  Photographer found comment helpful.


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