I didn't put up any pictures of my Louisiana trip last week, so I think this week will be all Louisiana all the time.
First up is a broad view of a swamp. This turned out to be more difficult than I anticipated because any shot that takes in lots of swamp has so much fiddly little detail that nothing really stands out. It's just a mishmash of trees and plants, which might work on a 2' x 3' enlargement but not so much on a 600 pixel web display.
Still, I took about half a dozen wide shots that I'll share over the next few months. The best of the bunch is probably the one below, which was taken off the shore of Lake Martin and features a resting egret to provide the eye with something to focus on.
If you think getting a good wide-angle shot of a Louisiana bayou is tough, try the Amazon rain forest.
What do you think about reframing this to the “rule of thirds”? Also photoshopping the reflections out so the egret pops? Not that you should do any of this, I’m more curious of your decisions not to do them. I’m typically more interested in someone’s process than the results.
There was no big thought process here. I just thought that centering the bird looked better and allowed me to get more of the trees in.
As for the reflections, it never occurred to me to get rid of them. That's more Photoshopping than I usually do. I typically remove small blemishes and play around with exposure. It's rare that I make a major change to the reality of the image.
Do you have a polarizing filter? IIRC (I haven’t been deep into photography for a few decades), you lose 0.5 to 1 f-stop but you can mostly eliminate glare and reflection. Again, I’m not against any of your choices, just curious what they were. It’s a very lovely photo no matter what. Thanks for sharing and replying.
My God! It looks like a swamp alligator got one of the egrets legs!!
I like the composition....especially when I open it to full size. The comment about the Amazon being difficult is very true....I have found the interior of jungles to be quite dark, in the same sense that the moon is fantastically bright (1/4 actual sun), when you try to shoot it.
Also, the dynamic range is off the charts with blinding brights and inky black dark's in a jungle or, for that matter, a dense forest...which are you going to expose for? Can't have both (well I suppose you can bracket now and blend...but in any honest sense, can't be done on a single frame).
To circle back, I like this....(rule of thirds? I don't know...I actually like center frame often, more often than I should probably...but this image of yours, I do like a center frame).
Back to work, Traveller
To me, the best, most interesting, most artistic shot I've ever seen from you.
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