Serene Grace
May, 2012Views
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Same photographer See allBehind The Lens
Behind The Lens
Location
This particular photo was taken at a local park, which featured a rather large pond as the centerpiece. After a few hours creeping steadily closer to the local birds, the decided I was no longer a threat and allowed me to get close enough to fill the frame, some even getting within the minimum focus distance of my 70-200mm lens.Time
I'm pretty proud of the sharp contrast that appears in this image, a contrast that I captured at a little past high noon. It was between noon and one when I shot this particular image, and I've found that shooting during these few hours in the early afternoon result in very contrast, stark images, especially in black and white.Lighting
I wanted the details of the feathers to stand out, as well as the overall texture of the bird itself. This is why I opted to shoot when I did; the strong, harsh light helped create this unique portrait of an otherwise common bird.Equipment
This was shot on a handheld Canon 60D, using a Canon 70-200mm f/4L telephoto lens.Inspiration
The simplistic grace that Canadian Geese possess while swimming inspired the quest to get this portrait. After a few hours of simply watching, attempting to convince the birds that I was not a threat, I was able to get close enough to capture the portrait with the framing and light that I wanted.Editing
As the image was originally in color, the first thing I did was change the image to the black and white scale. After that, the only adjustments made were the slight tweaking of the contrast, as well as a small amount of sharpening to make up for the sharpness lost during image compression.In my camera bag
My favorite lens is probably the 70-200mm that I used to capture this image. It's my go-to lens, as it has a fantastic range for the subjects that I shoot, and has a sharpness that is matched by few other lenses. In addition, I usually carry a 100mm f/2.8 macro lens and a 15-85mm f/3.5-5.6 IS lens to cover a variety of ranges to best cover the wide variety of subjects that I might encounter. Finally, I always keep my trusty 50mm f/1.4 fixed lens in my pack, as it takes all around great images and has served me well in the past.Feedback
The local areas in any city can hide interesting subjects, and with the right lighting and eye, these mundane subjects can be made into interesting photographs. For a photographer, keeping one's eyes open and always looking for things to photograph can make a big difference, and keeping a fresh perspective on even those objects that have been photographed a million times before can result in images that are new and interesting.
