Study Group 17 Member 6

Study Group 17
Meg Puente

Backyard and Tricolor 111

January, 2012

First of all, I would like to wish you all the best in 2012 and hope your holidays were wonderful and spent with loved ones. This is a great group! A special thanks to Warren for sheparding the group!

(The top is the BEFORE; bottom is AFTER.)

Taken in South Florida about 5 pm (low light) with a Nikon D300s at f/7.1, 640 sec shutter speed (exposure time), exposure compensation 2.3, metering mode = spot, no flash.

At first I thought this was a throw away shot, but the more I looked, the more the graphics, shapes and patterns intrigued me, so I decided to try to work it into something else.

First I cropped to a vertical for a more dramatic, intimate feel, sharpened the water droplets, burned the highlights in the head area, upped the saturation and contrast a bit, cloned out a bubble and a dark spot on the bottom, softened the waves, and added a soft omni light on the back and a frame. What do you think? Did it work?

COMMENTS:

Warren Wilson	I really like the fact that you give the before and the after. Really nice craftmanship. I esp like the frame you built around the subject. very nicely done.
Joe Kennedy	Thanks for adding the Before and After shots as it made it easier to follow your methodology. Quite a marked improvement from the original shot as the entire image pops! I usually don’t like frames but yours is less distracting from the typical framing added.
Barun Sinha	It appears that a decorative piece has been kept in water. The water droplets on the bird’s wing are to me the most beautiful part of the image. It is not a classic composition but nevertheless very effective.
Vacant
Terry Kness	good job cropping and editing, nice detail, I like the water drops. With critters I want to see the eye. But nice job.
Debbie Garland	very well done. Love the colors and droplets. Nice job

Member Bio

Meg Puente - Biography

Retired from the hospitality industry, I discovered photography very late in life... I started with a tiny pocket Nikon point-and-shoot, then began frequenting the local re-created wetlands and fell in love with all of the beautiful herons and wading birds there... of course now, I will shoot anything at all... Now a member of the Boynton Beach Camera club, I have won a couple of awards in some of the local contests, but know my limits as an amateur.

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