Audubon Swamp Garden in Magnolia Gardens

DixieDixie Registered Users Posts: 1,497 Major grins
edited April 11, 2007 in Wildlife
These were all taken in the Audubon Swamp Garden in Magnolia Plantations & Gardens in Charleston, South Carolina.

Comments and suggestions are welcome.

Click on the image for EXIF data.

My Audubon Swamp Garden Gallery.

Great Egret working on her nest:
141048070-O.jpg

Bull Frog
141048073-O.jpg

Green Heron
141048055-O.jpg

Night Heron
141048076-O.jpg

Thanks for taking the time to look.
Dixie
Photographs by Dixie
| Canon 1Ds | Canon 5D Mark II | Canon 5D | Canon 50D | Canon 10D | Canon EOS Elan 7 | Mamiya Pro S RB67 |
...and bunches of Canon lenses - I'm equipment rich and dollar poor!

Comments

  • Ric GrupeRic Grupe Registered Users Posts: 9,522 Major grins
    edited April 4, 2007
    That's a nice group, Dixie.thumb.gif
  • HarrybHarryb Registered Users, Retired Mod Posts: 22,708 Major grins
    edited April 4, 2007
    Mrvelous shots with great color Dixie. clap.gif
    Harry
    http://behret.smugmug.com/ NANPA member
    How many photographers does it take to change a light bulb? 50. One to change the bulb, and forty-nine to say, "I could have done that better!"
  • raptorcaptorraptorcaptor Registered Users Posts: 3,968 Major grins
    edited April 4, 2007
    Great color and composition! clap.gif Great series!
    Glenn

    My website | NANPA Member
  • sskoutassskoutas Registered Users Posts: 437 Major grins
    edited April 4, 2007
    Do you mind if I ask what you do in post? These images are the textbook definition of "wow!" The pop on these is unbelievable, and as others have commented, the color is superb. Very, very beautiful images! I'm partial to B&W photography, but this is what color photography is all about.

    thumb.gif
    __________________
    Stephen Skoutas
    http://stephenskoutas.com
    sskoutas@gmail.com Certe, toto, sentio nos in kansate non iam adesse

    Please feel free to retouch and repost my images. Critique, Suggestions, and Technique tips always welcomed.
  • ShepsMomShepsMom Registered Users Posts: 4,319 Major grins
    edited April 5, 2007
    Beautiful work Dixie, awesome colors. What is post processing on this, do you use saturation alot?
    Marina
    www.intruecolors.com
    Nikon D700 x2/D300
    Nikon 70-200 2.8/50 1.8/85 1.8/14.24 2.8
  • DeeDee Registered Users Posts: 2,981 Major grins
    edited April 5, 2007
    Very nice!
    Do tell your post processing methods! :D

    It must take a lot of patience to take these photos... I know the birds, frogs, etc. don't just pose for you, and they sure don't take posing directions either... but the light and colors are just great.
  • DixieDixie Registered Users Posts: 1,497 Major grins
    edited April 7, 2007
    Post processing? What is post processing?







    Just kidding. I'll work up another one and try to pay attention to my steps and post it in the morning with the workflow.

    Thanks to everyone for the kind comments.
    Dixie
    Photographs by Dixie
    | Canon 1Ds | Canon 5D Mark II | Canon 5D | Canon 50D | Canon 10D | Canon EOS Elan 7 | Mamiya Pro S RB67 |
    ...and bunches of Canon lenses - I'm equipment rich and dollar poor!
  • dbaker1221dbaker1221 Registered Users Posts: 4,482 Major grins
    edited April 7, 2007
    really teriffic photoswings.gif
    **If I keep shooting, I'm bound to hit something**
    Dave
  • ginger_55ginger_55 Registered Users Posts: 8,416 Major grins
    edited April 7, 2007
    Why didn't you call me?

    And I know that Night Heron, personally, I think.

    I love the frog, I have never seen him before.

    So, why didn't you call me?

    ginger (That is OK, maybe:cry )
    After all is said and done, it is the sweet tea.
  • saurorasaurora Registered Users Posts: 4,320 Major grins
    edited April 7, 2007
    Like everyone has said, these are beautiful shots, Dixie. The saturation is so rich, but not overdone. Neat! thumb.gif
  • sskoutassskoutas Registered Users Posts: 437 Major grins
    edited April 7, 2007
    Dixie wrote:
    Post processing? What is post processing?
    I almost threw my camera out the window... I'm glad I took an extra second or two to read your full reply...:D
    Dixie wrote:
    Just kidding. I'll work up another one and try to pay attention to my steps and post it in the morning with the workflow.

    Thanks to everyone for the kind comments.
    __________________
    Stephen Skoutas
    http://stephenskoutas.com
    sskoutas@gmail.com Certe, toto, sentio nos in kansate non iam adesse

    Please feel free to retouch and repost my images. Critique, Suggestions, and Technique tips always welcomed.
  • Dennis KaczorDennis Kaczor Registered Users Posts: 2,413 Major grins
    edited April 7, 2007
    Hi Dixie, very nice series of images, I enjoyed them all. Thanks for sharing.

    Regards
  • MaestroMaestro Registered Users Posts: 5,395 Major grins
    edited April 7, 2007
    Awesome series. Great color and exposure!
  • DixieDixie Registered Users Posts: 1,497 Major grins
    edited April 8, 2007
    ginger_55 wrote:
    Why didn't you call me?

    And I know that Night Heron, personally, I think.

    I love the frog, I have never seen him before.

    So, why didn't you call me?

    ginger (That is OK, maybe:cry )


    Hi Ginger,

    My apologies for not giving you a call. We were in town because of a death in the family (my wife's sister-in-law passed away from a heart attack at 75). Several days after the funeral we were sitting around my daughter's house and I asked if anyone wanted to go out to the Swamp Garden. I ended up taking two of my granddaughters and a great-granddaughter. It was just a spur of the moment thing.

    I know that Night Heron personally as well. I'm positive that he is the same one I shot last year on a different cypress stump just a few feet from where I shot the one above.

    I do plan on coming over to Charleston specifically to do a Charleston series. I promise I will call you when I do that.

    ...btw, did you know that Magnolia Gardens will let professional photographers in for free if you show them your business card?

    Here are mugshots of my three cohorts in the crime of not calling you.

    Granddaughter #1
    126115970-M-1.jpg

    Her daughter and Great-granddaughter #1
    125973867-M.jpg

    Granddaughter #3 (Granddaughter #2 belongs to my son and she wasn't there.)
    125994396-M-1.jpg
    Dixie
    Photographs by Dixie
    | Canon 1Ds | Canon 5D Mark II | Canon 5D | Canon 50D | Canon 10D | Canon EOS Elan 7 | Mamiya Pro S RB67 |
    ...and bunches of Canon lenses - I'm equipment rich and dollar poor!
  • DixieDixie Registered Users Posts: 1,497 Major grins
    edited April 8, 2007
    Again, thanks for the kind comments everyone has posted. They are really appreciated.

    A day late, but as promise - here is a rough workflow of how I process the majority of my photos.

    First, I do as much as I can in RAW using Adobe Camera RAW prior to importing them into PS CS2. There are several reasons for doing this, but the primary reason is so that I can always go back to the RAW image with the saved metadata and use the same RAW again if I need to work in a different color space. Since the majority of my work is printed photographically, I generally work in sRGB. However, if there is a need to go to the print media using AdobeRGB, the majority of the work has already been done with the needed adjustment info already included in the metadata for the RAW file.

    I have Adobe Lightroom, but have not switched to it yet because I am still working on converting everything over to the library there and placing everything in different collections. The problem I have run into is the placement of the data files for LR. The default placement is in the My Document section on my C drive which isn't large enough to hold all my collections. I have been trying to figure out how I can designate another drive/directory for my library/collections data files, but have been stymied so far. If anyone here knows how to change the drive/directory for the LR data files please let me know. So far, I have only imported about 5% of my work into LR and the data files are already over 3 gigabytes in size. Oh well, LR is another problem for another day.

    Back to my regularly schedule workflow.

    Here are my basic steps during the Camera RAW conversion/import:
    • Under the Detail tab:
      • Sharpness = 0
      • Luminance Smoothing = 0
      • Color Noise Reduction = 25
    • Under the Lens tab:
      • Everything is default except Vignetting which I normally set to somewhere between -5 to -15 depending upon the image
    • Under the Adjust tab:
      • White Balance
        • I will normally pick the object from the drop-down menu based on the actual shooting conditions. In the case of the photo I'm using for this workflow, I picked Daylight. As shot Temperature was 5150 and Tint was +8. Using daylight they were 5500 and +10. I didn't in this case, but if needed I will adjust slightly to taste. I don't think that is scientific, but it seems to work for me.
      • Exposure - I am normally pretty close on the original exposure, but will usually adjust this to 0.00 and then use the other adjustments to get shot where I want it. As shot it was 0.60 and I adjusted to 0.00.
      • Shadows - I normally increase shadows to give the image a little more punch. As shot it was 5 and I increased it to 20.
      • Brightness - I will normally increase brightness as well. As shot it was 78 and I increased it to 93.
      • Contrast - I adjust the contrast as needed. With this image I left it in the auto mode which was a setting of +50.
      • Saturation - I increased saturation to +30 to give the image a little more punch.
    • NOTES: I was an art major in college so I tend to look at photography more as an art than I do as science. I do not go for realism in my photography as much as "what looks right to me" when I adjust. I leave actual color matching in the image to those people doing medical, forensic, etc. photography where those things really matter.
    Here is what the image looked like as Camera RAW Defaults and then after I adjusted the image during the Camera RAW conversion. In this case, I basically tried to bring out the colors and detail in the egret and let the rest of the image fall where it did during the adjustment. If the background is really important to the image, I will normally do an additional RAW conversion and layer the two conversions in PS and then adjust and blend the two layers for the finished image using the eraser set to the brush mode with a flow of 25-50% and an opacity of 25-50%.

    142013385-O.jpg

    Now into PS CS2 where I put on the finishing touches.
    • The first thing I did after importing into PS CS2 was scale the image to taste. You can compare the full image size shown above before scaling done during the RAW conversion to the image below to see the amount of scaling actually done. I will try to stay away from scaling whenever possible, but when you are at your max zoom of 400mm on your biggest piece of glass (640 on the XTi), you do what you have to do.
    • The next adjustment was done in Levels where I reduced the gamma to .75 and increased the black slider to 15 from 0 to get rid of some of the background information and bring out a little more detail in the egret. This is all done subjectively to taste. As stated earlier - nothing scientific. I know that Curves can be used, but I tend to go the easier route for me with Levels.
    • I then used the nik Color Efex Pro 2 traditional Skylight filter set to a strength of 25%.
    • Next, I used the nik Color Efex Pro 2 traditional Darken/Lighten Center with Shape set to oval, Center Luminosity set to +60%, Border Luminosity set -30%, and Center Size set to 60%.
    • Using Hue/Saturation, I decreased Yellows by -30, Reds by -20, and Magentas by -30 for color correction. I do use a calibrated monitor and all color adjustments are done to taste using my subjective judgement.
    • Sharpened using nik Sharpener Pro 2 setting it for display at 35%.
    • Set Mode to 8-bit.
    • Saved image.
    These were the settings were for the full size image I would use to print photographically. To make the smaller framed version for viewing, I will delete the Sharpening and Mode steps which are always my last two steps. Then select all and copy the image into my frame template. I then re-sized the framed image to 800 pixels on the long side and use nik Sharpener Pro 2 set to display and sharpened to 25% to sharpen just the image layer. I then save the smaller framed version.

    Here are the final results. Click on the image below to see the EXIF data for the original image. ...before anyone asks, yes, I was handholding at 1/125th of a second. There's nothing fancy here and with minor variations the workflow is pretty much what I use for everything.

    141997926-O.jpg

    About the only major difference in my workflow when I'm shooting buildings is to use skew to correct converging lines when needed. Other than that I pretty much stick fairly close to the workflow shown above with the individual adjustments based on each individual image.

    Here are examples of me using skew to correct perspectives and make the photo look more appealing when shooting buildings, etc.

    Here is the original Camera RAW image prior to any adjustment. This image was taken at the Vicksburg National Military Park in Vicksburg, Mississippi.

    142025511-O.jpg

    Here is the post processed image after RAW conversion and PS CS2 work. Click on the image for EXIF data for the image below.

    137162593-O.jpg

    I hope that you found this interesting and helpful and that I didn't bore you to tears. ...but you asked for it. :D

    If anyone has a specific question about why I do something a particular way, please ask.
    Dixie
    Photographs by Dixie
    | Canon 1Ds | Canon 5D Mark II | Canon 5D | Canon 50D | Canon 10D | Canon EOS Elan 7 | Mamiya Pro S RB67 |
    ...and bunches of Canon lenses - I'm equipment rich and dollar poor!
  • sskoutassskoutas Registered Users Posts: 437 Major grins
    edited April 8, 2007
    Thank you so much for the detailed reply... it amazes me how similar our workflow (conceptually) is, and yet how much better your results are then mine. I, same as you, do post-processing to meet the criteria of "what looks good to me," but I think your artists eye is far superior to mine. Great job, great post, great info, and greatly appreciated!
    __________________
    Stephen Skoutas
    http://stephenskoutas.com
    sskoutas@gmail.com Certe, toto, sentio nos in kansate non iam adesse

    Please feel free to retouch and repost my images. Critique, Suggestions, and Technique tips always welcomed.
  • ShepsMomShepsMom Registered Users Posts: 4,319 Major grins
    edited April 8, 2007
    Thank you for the great tut, i always mess around with Raw conversion in Adobe, but i'm not as proficient as you are Laughing.gif. I'll save this and try "your" way to see what i might come up with.
    Thanks again! thumb.gif
    Marina
    www.intruecolors.com
    Nikon D700 x2/D300
    Nikon 70-200 2.8/50 1.8/85 1.8/14.24 2.8
  • DixieDixie Registered Users Posts: 1,497 Major grins
    edited April 9, 2007
    sskoutas wrote:
    Thank you so much for the detailed reply... it amazes me how similar our workflow (conceptually) is, and yet how much better your results are then mine. I, same as you, do post-processing to meet the criteria of "what looks good to me," but I think your artists eye is far superior to mine. Great job, great post, great info, and greatly appreciated!


    Stephen,

    Thank you very much. I have been interested in photography since my teen years dating back to the middle of the last century (1950's). I finally got some formal training at Rochester Institute of Technology in Rochester, New York during the middle of the 70's and was working on a degree in photography. I was in the Army then and they decided to move me before I could finish. I ended up in Newburgh, NY being stationed at West Point. The closest school I could find to finish my degree in photography was at Long Island University which would have caused me a long drive through Westchester County, Yonkers, Bronx, etc. to get to school. Those who have lived in or have been to New York City know what a nightmare that would have been.

    Luckily, I found a school closer, but they didn't offer a degree in photography so I switched my major to Fine Art and they let me apply my photography courses at RIT towards it. Looking back on it, I think it was the best thing that could have happened to me. Technically, I was a fairly decent photographer, but after taking art courses for two years I started looking at photography in an entirely different light (no pun intended).

    The art professors emphasized seeing colors, shapes, forms, shadow & light, etc. in a scene much more than in any photography course I had ever taken. Yes, in photography, they talk about composition, light, colors, etc., but not the way nor with the emphasis as they do in art courses. Ever since, when someone asks me a way to improve their photography, I tell them to go to a nearby college which offers courses in art appreciation and audit (the cheap way to do it) one or two of the courses. Believe me, it really does help. Not only will it help with "seeing" a scene and visualizing how it will turn out, but you will start "seeing" scenes within scenes as well.

    I have been asked a number of times is some of my photographs were paintings such as the scene in the one below. Again, I think that it is because of the way I was influenced by my art courses. At any rate, those are my thoughts on the subject.

    94856521-M.jpg
    Dixie
    Photographs by Dixie
    | Canon 1Ds | Canon 5D Mark II | Canon 5D | Canon 50D | Canon 10D | Canon EOS Elan 7 | Mamiya Pro S RB67 |
    ...and bunches of Canon lenses - I'm equipment rich and dollar poor!
  • DixieDixie Registered Users Posts: 1,497 Major grins
    edited April 9, 2007
    ShepsMom wrote:
    Thank you for the great tut, i always mess around with Raw conversion in Adobe, but i'm not as proficient as you are Laughing.gif. I'll save this and try "your" way to see what i might come up with.
    Thanks again! thumb.gif


    Marina,

    I know that working with RAW can be time consuming, but I really do believe that the rewards with the finished product far outweight the time and hassle. An excellent book (IMHO) on the subject is Camera Raw with Adobe Photoshop CS2 by Bruce Fraser. There is a lot of good information in it regarding working with RAW files as well as in different color spaces and why. It's pricey at $39.99, but I think well worth the investment. You can get it through Adobe Press or Amazon. A lot of the better bookstores also carry it if you would like to take a look at it first.
    Dixie
    Photographs by Dixie
    | Canon 1Ds | Canon 5D Mark II | Canon 5D | Canon 50D | Canon 10D | Canon EOS Elan 7 | Mamiya Pro S RB67 |
    ...and bunches of Canon lenses - I'm equipment rich and dollar poor!
  • ginger_55ginger_55 Registered Users Posts: 8,416 Major grins
    edited April 9, 2007
    CS3???? Lightroom? (lots of Raw Processing, not a word of which I understand)

    later, after sinus headache gets doctored away,

    ginger
    After all is said and done, it is the sweet tea.
  • ShepsMomShepsMom Registered Users Posts: 4,319 Major grins
    edited April 9, 2007
    ginger, Lightroom is an Adobe photofinishing for either RAW or regular pix. CS is a photoshop thingie :D

    Dixie, i might buy the book, sounds like a good reading and learning! You're da man! bowdown.gif
    Marina
    www.intruecolors.com
    Nikon D700 x2/D300
    Nikon 70-200 2.8/50 1.8/85 1.8/14.24 2.8
  • DixieDixie Registered Users Posts: 1,497 Major grins
    edited April 10, 2007
    ginger_55 wrote:
    CS3???? Lightroom? (lots of Raw Processing, not a word of which I understand)

    later, after sinus headache gets doctored away,

    ginger


    Ginger,

    LR is Adobe Bridge +++. It is a great way to manage your image library and collections. Additional there are a lot of extra tools which allow you to build slideshows, web pages, etc. Plenty of templates to work with and all.

    As to the photo-finishing - LR does everything Adobe Bridge did and allows many more adjustments when working with the RAW file. Additionally, you can work with bitmapped images (JPG, TIF, etc.) as well which you can't do in Adobe Bridge. You can do most everything that you can do in PS with the exception of working layers and at pixel level such as cloning, etc. Those you still have to do in PS.

    Here are a couple of links with more about Adobe Lightroom. The Adobe product page is a down and dirty quicky and the second link is to a 5-page FAQ document on LR in PDF (good reading for those who are seriously considering LR). That should give you a pretty good idea of what LR is and how you can use it.
    Dixie
    Photographs by Dixie
    | Canon 1Ds | Canon 5D Mark II | Canon 5D | Canon 50D | Canon 10D | Canon EOS Elan 7 | Mamiya Pro S RB67 |
    ...and bunches of Canon lenses - I'm equipment rich and dollar poor!
  • DixieDixie Registered Users Posts: 1,497 Major grins
    edited April 10, 2007
    ShepsMom wrote:
    ....
    Dixie, i might buy the book, sounds like a good reading and learning! You're da man! bowdown.gif



    Marina, I don't think that you will be disappointed with the book if you are really interested in processing RAW. Let me know if you get it and whether it helped you. If it doesn't help, I'll stop recommending it.
    Dixie
    Photographs by Dixie
    | Canon 1Ds | Canon 5D Mark II | Canon 5D | Canon 50D | Canon 10D | Canon EOS Elan 7 | Mamiya Pro S RB67 |
    ...and bunches of Canon lenses - I'm equipment rich and dollar poor!
  • sskoutassskoutas Registered Users Posts: 437 Major grins
    edited April 10, 2007
    Dixie wrote:
    Marina, I don't think that you will be disappointed with the book if you are really interested in processing RAW. Let me know if you get it and whether it helped you. If it doesn't help, I'll stop recommending it.

    I haven't bought it yet, but it is on my list and it's been highly recommended to me by photogs I respect as well... and your results certainly are a good recommendation for this book too.
    __________________
    Stephen Skoutas
    http://stephenskoutas.com
    sskoutas@gmail.com Certe, toto, sentio nos in kansate non iam adesse

    Please feel free to retouch and repost my images. Critique, Suggestions, and Technique tips always welcomed.
  • DixieDixie Registered Users Posts: 1,497 Major grins
    edited April 11, 2007
    sskoutas wrote:
    I haven't bought it yet, but it is on my list and it's been highly recommended to me by photogs I respect as well... and your results certainly are a good recommendation for this book too.


    Stephen,

    Please let me know what you think of it as well.
    Dixie
    Photographs by Dixie
    | Canon 1Ds | Canon 5D Mark II | Canon 5D | Canon 50D | Canon 10D | Canon EOS Elan 7 | Mamiya Pro S RB67 |
    ...and bunches of Canon lenses - I'm equipment rich and dollar poor!
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