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African Sacred Ibis (Threskiornis aethiopicus) - In the wild
African Sacred Ibis (Threskiornis aethiopicus) - In the wild
HarveyG


Photograph Information Photographer's Comments
Challenge: Free Study 2011-07 (Advanced Editing VII)
Camera: Nikon D90
Lens: Sigma 170-500mm f/5-6.3 APO Aspherical for Nikon
Location: Beaulieu Bird Sanctuary, Gauteng, RSA.
Date: Jul 24, 2011
Aperture: f/6.3
ISO: 800
Shutter: 1/400
Galleries: Black and White, Birds
Date Uploaded: Jul 31, 2011

 Non-captive. Any bird with a black face or head is really hard to expose correctly. You have to either OE by a 1/3rd or 2/3rds at time of shot (and then you run the risk of blowing out any white feathers and the background) or as in this case I shot with an average metering and then bumped the RAW file by +0.3 EV. Then convert to B&W. Nikon's in-camera Active D-Lighting was off. A bit of back lighting and my side of the bird was in shade, helping to minimise the blowout on the white feathers. Normally I'd under-expose with backlighting but the sun wasn't in the shot and the huge hood on the 500mm is sufficient to keep out stray rays. All of which helped make him (or her) stand out from the BG (which was dam water).

ViewNX 2 RAW Monochrome Conversion
Increase EV +0.3
Sharpen +5
Contrast +10
Export to 8 Bit Tiff
Resize
Layer Mask
Curves
Sharpen
Gaussian Blur
Levels
Smart Sharpen
SFW

For the 2011 FSM (Free Study Marathon)
Thread Here / Results Here

Statistics
Place: 113 out of 343
Avg (all users): 6.0127
Avg (commenters): 7.7143
Avg (participants): 6.0887
Avg (non-participants): 5.7273
Views since voting: 702
Views during voting: 242
Votes: 157
Comments: 10
Favorites: 1 (view)

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AuthorThread
 08/08/2011 02:02:47 PM
Heita! I'm with Mariuca. Spectacular.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 Comments Made During the Challenge
08/07/2011 05:16:09 PM
Spectacular!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 08/07/2011 10:40:03 AM
Are you sure this is not a studio portrait? :)
Very nice capture and processing. Love the variety of textures and patterns on display as well as the curves.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 08/04/2011 01:48:54 PM
Nice silhouette
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 08/03/2011 11:50:46 AM
Wow! Cool bird!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 08/03/2011 09:53:59 AM
interesting use of negative space, maybe a tighter crop on the top and a little from the left or more low key image would have been more dramatic
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 08/02/2011 11:32:11 PM
Reminds me of a couple of people I know.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 08/02/2011 11:11:10 PM
Wonderful shot. I understand now why Thoth, the Egyptian god, was ibis-headed man. Impressive bird...
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 08/02/2011 09:34:28 AM
great capture. loving the detail. nice treatment in b&w too
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 08/01/2011 12:17:01 AM
Wow, this is awesome! He looks like a statue
  Photographer found comment helpful.


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