Black and White Heron

[mnscott]

At least I think it's a Heron. Never liked this one all that well in color, so thought I'd try SEP on it (version one - haven't yet upgraded). I'd appreciate any thoughts/feedback:

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[alexf]

Nice shot. it's a Green Heron.

 

[shtarka1]

Looks excellent Scott! Nice contrast, sharpness & positioning!

 

[cathead77]

Beautiful shot! The plain background and selective focusing really draws attention to the subject which is razor sharp.

 

[mnscott]

Nice shot. it's a Green Heron.

Thanks Alex. I wondered if it was a Green Heron, but we mostly only see GBH's around here.

Looks excellent Scott! Nice contrast, sharpness & positioning!

Thanks Steve - I appreciate the comment!

Beautiful shot! The plain background and selective focusing really draws attention to the subject which is razor sharp.

Thanks kindly, Alan!

 

[revdhd]

Nice shot, Scott! Excellent backdrop and lovely comp. Could be a painting. Nicely done!

 

[mnscott]

Nice shot, Scott! Excellent backdrop and lovely comp. Could be a painting. Nicely done!

Thanks very much, Doug! :smile:

 

[LindaZ]

I really love this...what type of contrast is that? It looks different than the usual contrast adjustments.

Lovely bokeh too!

 

[mnscott]

I really love this...what type of contrast is that? It looks different than the usual contrast adjustments.

Lovely bokeh too!

Thanks very much!

The contrast is different, I agree. The original was strongly back-lit, and it was a somewhat hazy day, as I recall. So I started with the "High Structure" preset in Silver Efex Pro, and went from there. I used a control point on the Heron, to enhance the contrast there too. I also tweaked the base paper tone, pushing it a bit bluer.

In the original color version, the back-lit bird was very flat in contrast, which is why I didn't really warm up to the color version.

 

[intruder61]

great PP on the bird to make it pop on a bright background.

 

[mnscott]

great PP on the bird to make it pop on a bright background.

Thanks Vince!

 

[dossy]

I love the way the plant fans out around him. Nice shot!

 

[Deleted member 960]

I love the way the plant fans out around him. Nice shot!

Agree, fantastic catch, needs to be printed!

 

[mnscott]

I love the way the plant fans out around him. Nice shot!

Agree, fantastic catch, needs to be printed!

Thanks to you both!

That brings up a question: Has anyone found a good lab for B&W prints? Seems like they want to print on color paper now. Maybe that's just how things have progressed, but not what I expected. I'd love to get my digital B&W images printed on actual B&W paper, if there's a lab out there that still does that. Thoughts?