Photo Story - A Dam Bird Encounter (Page 2): Thank you Linda for this feedback. That whole combination of light and form and shadow is what keeps me going back down there!

minniev Loc: MIssissippi

Linda From Maine wrote:

The strutting victor - head held high, chest puffed out, wings held wide...just too too cool!

The light, shadows and large sold forms add great interest to the story, even if this were a stand-alone shot. His waterworld kingdom.

Thank you Linda for this feedback. That whole combination of light and form and shadow is what keeps me going back down there!

minniev Loc: MIssissippi

Billyspad wrote:

You must come to Phils min. Every small town has a cock fighting pit and there is very often cock fighting on TV.
The victor gets to strut his stuff the loser gets eaten by dogs. Cannot bring myself to watch a cockfight but told its very exciting.
Your protagonists seem quite civilized and prepared to follow the Queensbury rules. Nice set min.
Can I suggest Roger and Albert for when you christen them?

Ah Billy, the Phils sounds a bit tame compared to Mississippi! Walk into the woods behind my house a ways and you'll find two round pits with benches. The smaller pit is for the cockfights, the loser of which goes to feed the combatants in the larger one, the pit bulls. It is best to limit one's visit to early morning though, as venturing in there when things are active could be quite unfortunate. People have a way of disappearing here...

The dam birds are quite dignified in their contests, more formal karate matches than gladiator & lion events. I like the names, but do tell me which is who? And glad you liked the birdies, they are my boon companions.

Apaflo Loc: Anchorage, Alaska

Wow. That dam bird knows how to strut!

Frank2013 Loc: San Antonio, TX. & Milwaukee, WI.

I am beginning to think everyone needs a pair of dam birds. minniev you are processing these so consistently well and are to be commended for the ability to do so. Might you explain the post processing that to me is making them look picturesque i.e. (unusual and vivid).

Edit: Not just the dam birds.......but the entire photograph.

minniev Loc: MIssissippi

Apaflo wrote:

Wow. That dam bird knows how to strut!

He does have certain swagger, doesn't he?

Billyspad Loc: The Philippines

minniev wrote:

Ah Billy, the Phils sounds a bit tame compared to ... (show quote)

Why is it that men who are supposed to be the highest form of life get some sick pleasure out of watching dumb creatures fight and get hurt? Never understood boxing either and not a fan of contact sports generally.
Anyway Albert is the strutting bird and Roger is guy who came second.

Frank2013 Loc: San Antonio, TX. & Milwaukee, WI.

Billyspad wrote:

Anyway Albert is the strutting bird and Roger is guy who came second.

Are they not male and female? I know nothing about birds....other than which ones are okay to eat.

minniev Loc: MIssissippi

Frank2013 wrote:

I am beginning to think everyone needs a pair of dam birds. minniev you are processing these so consistently well and are to be commended for the ability to do so. Might you explain the post processing that to me is making them look picturesque i.e. (unusual and vivid).

Glad you asked Frank! There are actually several Dam Bird recipes and I'm developing new ones all the time. This is the most common one I use for color pictures, which are best shot in the morning while the light is kind and slightly golden. It's then that the coral and blue color scheme appears, from the morning light painting the concrete sort of pinkish gold and the shadows taking on a pronounced blue tone.

Once in PS, this approach calls for several layers: one with Nik color efex/ glamour glow, one with Aurora with all kinds of adjustments that go further with glow, radiance and various of the contrast tools, and one with Topaz Adjust/Detail. All of these are applied to the base image and the layers themselves are at reduced opacity and blended as needed. The topaz layer is masked out and painted back in at a reduced opacity just on the birds, which is what I do with lots of street photos too. From there it's on to dodging and burning on a dedicated layer, sharpening and vignette.The dam birds take some time but i enjoy them!!

Billyspad Loc: The Philippines

Frank2013 wrote:

Are they not male and female? I know nothing about birds....other than which ones are okay to eat.

I never worry about sex and names min. Had a female Siamese called Stanley and another female cat called Derek.
DO NOT mention eating birds to Roger and Albert that may just ruffle their feathers!

minniev Loc: MIssissippi

Billyspad wrote:

Why is it that men who are supposed to be the highest form of life get some sick pleasure out of watching dumb creatures fight and get hurt? Never understood boxing either and not a fan of contact sports generally.
Anyway Albert is the strutting bird and Roger is guy who came second.

That is a real question for the Maker, I believe. I have long wondered about our species' fascination with violence, which seems unique to us. I also wonder about killing animals for the sport of it. Doesn't seem very sporting to me. There may one day be an accounting for our treatment of the four-legged kingdom, and the witnesses humans should worry most about are Cat and Dog, the two that were set to the task of keeping tabs on us all those millennia ago. Our deeds have not gone unnoticed.

Bloke Loc: Waynesboro, Pennsylvania

You can just *see* the pride in that last one!

minniev Loc: MIssissippi

Bloke wrote:

You can just *see* the pride in that last one!

In Southern lingo he was cock of the walk..

abc1234 Loc: Elk Grove Village, Illinois

Billyspad wrote:

...dumb creatures ....

If you are so smart, then you flap your arms to fly and then dive at 50 mph or more to snare a fish that a human cannot see from the shore. All that with a brain the fraction of the size of human's. Just because a bird cannot take photos like you does not make them done.

abc1234 Loc: Elk Grove Village, Illinois

I do not know what the original files look like but each of the finished products has a different color balance and brightness. And I am not quite sure what all that processing accomplishes that LR/PS by themselves cannot. Perhaps you can shed some light on this by showing the originals.

On more specific points, I prefer pillars that are plumbed straight. Cropping varies from shot to shot. I prefer sequences whose cropping, color balance and brightness match. The first two have two birds, the third only one. Could the idea of the victor have been reinforced by showing the vanquished?

minniev Loc: MIssissippi

Frank2013 wrote:

Are they not male and female? I know nothing about birds....other than which ones are okay to eat.

I don't know. Birds do have interesting courtship rituals, but these did not act very amorous. They spotted each other and started their stalk towards one another, fluffing out feathers as they approached, then stood at the stare-off, then went into the ball of squawking feathers and claws, then one retreated and the other marched. Maybe some bird specialist will tell us!

Their colors are slightly different too, though I think both of them are blues. I wondered if the lighter one were younger? Pictures I've seen of adult blues show the male and female as essentially the same colors...

I like looking at them, but confess I don't know that much about them.