JOHN8500-Flight
Flight or Fight
Flight or Fight
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Jun, 2014Views
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Awards
Action Award
Chatter Award
Zenith Award
Top Shot Award 21
Legendary Award
Featured
prizes by Lensbaby and FocalPress
Contest Finalist in Distortion Photo Contest by Focal Press and Lensbaby
Peer Award
Superb Composition
Absolute Masterpiece
Top Choice
Outstanding Creativity
Superior Skill
Jaw Dropping
Great Find
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Behind The Lens
Location
It was a cold snowy overcast winter morning in Wichita, Ks. The birds were frisky all morning trying to compete for the last morsels of food left in the seedpods.Time
The morning was cold with a fresh blanket of snow. The mid-morning light was overcast which toned down the harsh light off the snow. The lighting conditions couldn't better if I had planed it.Lighting
To get the lighting that I wanted, I used one of my Photogenic Power-Lite 600 with a Photoflex Multi Dome HV3, 24x32 softbox attached. This would add the needed soft fill light required to compensate for the light reflection off the snow. The fill light was set on 1/8 power and triggered by the use of a Wein Cordless pulse light transmitter attached to the camera and Power-Lite. With the Power-Lite attached to a Bogen heavy-duty tri-pod it allowed me to position the softbox at the correct angle and location needed to get the lighting and stop action I desired.Equipment
I decided to photograph them in what I like to call a stop action fluid motion image. To create the image that I envisioned I used a Canon D7, coupled with a Canon EF100-400 f4.5-5.6L, IS lens. The camera settings were: ISO 400, 1/250 @ f5.6, lens focal was set at 320mm. The camera was attached to Bogen Tri-Pod with a Sirus Ball Head.Inspiration
The birds were frisky and fighting for the last remnants of seeds left in the Crepe Myrtle seedpods. As I watched them compete for what food was left, it became apparent to me how quick, agile and determined these little birds were. As I watched and observed their behavior a title for an image came to me, “Fight or Flight”. I knew then, that I had to photograph these little guys and portray them in a totally different way than what is normally seen with birds in flight.Editing
The image was taken in color RAW format and converted to Black & White in Lightroom, using some of my own user presets to obtain the look and tone that I desired. Not much post-processing was needed with the exception of what is required to process a raw file. Was then converted to a jepg file.In my camera bag
My go-to bag usually consist of a Canon 7D Mk II, a Canon 5D Mk IV, a Canon 24-105 L lens and the 100-400 L lens. I also have a polarizing filter, some graduated neutral density filters, a 1.5 or 2x Tel. converter and wouldn't leave home without it a cable release. Theres other items that I would add to the list depending on what I am going out to shoot like tripod, mono-pod, Gimbal head, ballhead, reflectors,flashes and a pop-up blind.Feedback
We have all heard the expression: "If at first you don't succeed, try, try again". This is so true with photography, not every image will be what you want the first time. Just don't give up, that next image you click may be the award winner you were looking for. Most important, just have fun creating images that you like, and don't worry about what others thing or say, If you are happy with your image that is all that counts.
