Wildlife Photography across the Water: Black and White

Friday, 5 March 2010

Black and White

Still shooting the opossums nightly, They have been great and i have had some fantastic opportunity's as we sometimes get more than one and then you have a chance of interaction , They have no problems at all with the flashguns but if you happen to make a noise in the hide/blind then they are off, I have lots of ideas left and will soon be making a new set up, I though as its a night time thing to see how the images look converted to black and white, So i desaturated some and had a play with the dodge and burn tool, Basically it allows you to selectively lighten or darken areas that you 'paint' over, This was i can literally remove any distractions like the tree in the background and thing the rim light if i so require, Its always good to try new things in photoshop, Its a powerful tool and i probably don't use 3 % of what it can offer, Let me know what you think, Does it work or not, I missed the full moon the other night and am kicking myself as i could have added that to the backlit shots

Dave

3 comments:

Peter Edge5 March 2010 at 15:48
Hi Dave really enjoying the project and looking forward to more. The second of these two shots is a cracker really captures the creature of the night feel.
Pete
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Bobbster5 March 2010 at 21:57
Hi Dave, I think the first one is my preferred choice, the lighting seems to be spot on, where as I don't think it quite works in the first and third image. Superb project though and a commendable effort which is producing some brilliant images.
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Julian6 March 2010 at 13:11
Like the effect of no.3 but agree with Bob, love the "spotlight" effect of no.1 with the rapid fall-off into the background - makes the subject stand out for me. Tonal effect of B&W also seems to fit nicely with these night time shots too.
Rgds
Julian
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Bio's

David Courtenay, a self taught wildlife and nature photographer, has been capturing images for over 30 years. He has had a passion for wildlife since early childhood and remembers being glued to the television whenever Survival, Wildlife on One and other natural history documentaries were shown. In the 2006 he swapped his established career for the life of a wildlife photographer, such a move demands a measure of uncompromising passion and commitment.

David has travelled extensively throughout Europe as well as spending more than 7 months in India working with local guides and trackers in search of Bengal Tiger, Asian One horned Rhino and Asian Elephant. He has also photographed Wildlife in Australia, Malaysia, Thailand, Sumatra, Africa, Canada and America. Working closely with Conservation companies he tries to raise funds to help Wildlife that has been put on the endangered list by poaching and habitation loss

Martin Dyer has had a passion for avian wildlife since childhood, particularly raptors. Photography was also another keen interest and it was with the specific availability and control of the whole process that digital offers that Martin was then able to combine the two in 2003. Based in the UK, Martin is a regular visitor to Scotland, specifically the Isle of Mull to watch the Eagles resident there. Other trips to Europe and around the UK are usually part of Martin’s agenda in a typical year.

However, as a firm believer on making the most of the local patch, Martin has spent a lot of time and hard work creating a wildlife garden which is reaping the rewards with many new species and varieties of wildlife. A keen member of a number of wildlife photographic groups, Martin is keen to expand his portfolio into other areas of wildlife, and has already established a wide portfolio of images of fungi.