Sunrise on the harbor: Looking back through photos I found this lovely sunrise taken last February that had nothing in the foreground to focus the eye on. Remembered a shot of a Great...

neilds37 Loc: Port Angeles, WA

Looking back through photos I found this lovely sunrise taken last February that had nothing in the foreground to focus the eye on. Remembered a shot of a Great Blue Heron three weeks ago with the camera set for a sunrise. Too underexposed for any detail and had almost deleted it. Tried it in the sunrise, and was pleased with the result.

Presented here FYC/CC.

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NJFrank Loc: New Jersey

Sunrises or sunsets and water to me make a great combination. Great idea adding the Blue Herron. If you didn't mention you added it, I would have never supected. Adding the bird to me kicked it up a notch.
I think I have a few of those birds buried in my pile of shots.

neilds37 Loc: Port Angeles, WA

NJFrank wrote:

Sunrises or sunsets and water to me make a great combination. Great idea adding the Blue Herron. If you didn't mention you added it, I would have never supected. Adding the bird to me kicked it up a notch.
I think I have a few of those birds buried in my pile of shots.

Thanks for the comment NJFrank. One can never have too many bird or sky/cloud files laying around to step in when conditions at the moment fail you.

gwong1 Loc: Tampa, FL

Neilds37, I like the over all shot, but I would move the GBH to the left, giving him a place to fly to. As this is a big bird, it needs room to move within the frame, therefore I would have placed him left of center. If you agree, please repost. Thanks, Gary

neilds37 wrote:

Looking back through photos I found this lovely sunrise taken last February that had nothing in the foreground to focus the eye on. Remembered a shot of a Great Blue Heron three weeks ago with the camera set for a sunrise. Too underexposed for any detail and had almost deleted it. Tried it in the sunrise, and was pleased with the result.

Presented here FYC/CC.

MadMikeOne Loc: So. NJ Shore - a bit west of Atlantic City

gwong1 wrote:

Neilds37, I like the over all shot, but I would move the GBH to the left, giving him a place to fly to. As this is a big bird, it needs room to move within the frame, therefore I would have placed him left of center. If you agree, please repost. Thanks, Gary

Those were my thoughts, also. Great idea to put the 2 images together!

neilds37 Loc: Port Angeles, WA

To gwong1 and MadMikeOne, my thought on the placement was the same as yours. I tried it, along with others, and I didn't think it worked too well. I believe it threw the overall photo out of balance. If a good portion was cropped off the right side, then it could work with the birds on the left, but then it would give the photo a different feel. It would take away the sense of wide open space which is present now.

Please note my invitation in the footer on my posts. Feel free to try out your ideas and post in this thread. That's how we all learn.
Cheers, Neil

Dave Chinn

neilds37 wrote:

Looking back through photos I found this lovely sunrise taken last February that had nothing in the foreground to focus the eye on. Remembered a shot of a Great Blue Heron three weeks ago with the camera set for a sunrise. Too underexposed for any detail and had almost deleted it. Tried it in the sunrise, and was pleased with the result.

Presented here FYC/CC.

Great and successful idea for the addition Neil !!! Without the Great Blue Heron it would be just another sunrise photo.
Dave

neilds37 Loc: Port Angeles, WA

Dave Chinn wrote:

Great and successful idea for the addition Neil !!! Without the Great Blue Heron it would be just another sunrise photo.
Dave

Thank you for the look and comment, Dave. I think the sunrise lay hidden in my files all these months just waiting for the heron to come along.

Linda From Maine Loc: Yakima, Washington

The bird's placement works for me and the sky is gorgeous. A very nice mood, Neil, well done.

Regarding balance, if there was a tiny bit more water, I would like even more; however, I see grasses peeking up on the left, so you might not have had the option.

neilds37 Loc: Port Angeles, WA

Linda From Maine wrote:

The bird's placement works for me and the sky is gorgeous. A very nice mood, Neil, well done.

Regarding balance, if there was a tiny bit more water, I would like even more; however, I see grasses peeking up on the left, so you might not have had the option.

Thank you, Linda. You're right on options; my position was just a few feet above the water, not enough to broaden the surface.

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

neilds37 wrote:

Looking back through photos I found this lovely sunrise taken last February that had nothing in the foreground to focus the eye on. Remembered a shot of a Great Blue Heron three weeks ago with the camera set for a sunrise. Too underexposed for any detail and had almost deleted it. Tried it in the sunrise, and was pleased with the result.

Presented here FYC/CC.

You've come along way neilds.......well done. Before hanging I would clone out the power plant in the background the rock with bird in the water and the grass.

neilds37 Loc: Port Angeles, WA

Frank2013 wrote:

You've come along way neilds.......well done. Before hanging I would clone out the power plant in the background the rock with bird in the water and the grass.

See, I have been paying attention to what you all have been telling me! Thank you for the compliment Frank2013. I won't quibble over your identification of extraneous objects. That buoy should have been gone before you saw it. The unknown structure on the skyline didn't even register with me; you have sharp eyes, not to mention attention to detail. I may have left the grass in just to give a sense of the cameras location.

Linda From Maine Loc: Yakima, Washington

neilds37 wrote:

... That buoy should have been gone before you saw it. The unknown structure on the skyline didn't even register with me; you have sharp eyes, not to mention attention to detail. I may have left the grass in just to give a sense of the cameras location.

I thought it was a boat and liked its placement

I enlarged the background item, couldn't tell what was, decided it was no issue, and in fact was interesting

jenny Loc: in hiding:)

neilds37 wrote:

To gwong1 and MadMikeOne, my thought on the placem... (show quote)

* * * * *
If concerned about "balance" just turn the silly bird around and make 'im fly the other way!!!

neilds37 Loc: Port Angeles, WA

jenny wrote:

* * * * *
If concerned about "balance" just turn the silly bird around and make 'im fly the other way!!!

Jenny, that sounds like a very simple solution. The problem is, for some reason I can't explain, flying the other direction just doesn't look right to me. Logically it should make no difference, so why does it? I think it may have something to do with the sun being on the left. This makes the left side more restricted with the right side being more wide open space, so the bird would be flying from open space into restricted space, regardless of the bird to edge ruler measurement. Does that make sense?