The above image is a crop of the full image below. In order to capture the feather details of a white bird on a sunny day required underexposing and then bringing it back to normal in Photoshop. I don't know how photographers got decent pics of white birds back in film days. Taking pics of moving birds is surprisingly simple with the right equipment. Just crank up the shutter speed, put the autofocus in "tracking" mode, and point the camera in the right direction. These type of shots are more indicative of the photographer's ability to spend money on quality autofocus tracking features and telephoto lenses rather than skill, plus the luck skill to be in the right place at the right time. You have no control of the composition, which is why the pic below is a bore. If there's any skill in photography these days, it's in the ability to see and capture interesting subjects in interesting compositions, which can be done just as easily with a quality point-and-shoot as with a digital SLR, and that ability is more art than photography, which is what it's all about for me.
Comments (2)
"I don't know how photographers got decent pics of white birds back in film days. "
What, making test strips and then trying to dodge and burn just right isn't your idea of fun? (or of a fun way to spend money on supplies...)
To be fair to film, good film (and selection of the right good film for conditions) just has better range than a good CCD, though, so that would help allievate *some* of the darkroom frustration.
Posted by DSK | January 15, 2008 10:33 AM
I love the cropped version. Of course, my months spent without a good zoom had me doing quite a bit of cropping. Sometimes it's your only option.
Posted by alice | January 16, 2008 11:28 AM