The members often have a peculiar manner of quick movements that makes them interesting.
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Baikal Teal male
Description:
The drake Baikal Teal (Anas formosa), is one of the most colorful members of the waterfowl family with a beige head with a dark green patch running to the neck, along with portions of black and white lines. The female has a typical brown mottled hen plumage with a distinctive white spot behind the bill. The world population is about 500,000 birds.
Range:
It breeds in north and central Russia, and winters in south east Asia, primarily in China, North and South Korea and Japan.
Baikal Teal Range (Creative Commons Image)
Status:
Birdlife International lists it as Vulnerable despite relatively good numbers since “This species tends to congregate in very large flocks, and suffered rapid declines in many parts of its range during the twentieth century because of hunting and other threats. Although counts of wintering individuals in Korea have increased spectacularly over recent years, its roost sites are unprotected, large numbers died in a recent disease outbreak, and most importantly, the dry rice paddies where it feeds are being converted to vegetable farms and other uses. It is therefore projected to undergo a rapid decline in the immediate future, and hence the species is still listed as Vulnerable. If these land-use changes do not occur as rapidly as predicted, or if significant populations are found in China, then it may warrant downlisting to Near Threatened.”
Other Links
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Skyline Bridge
One of the things that HDR processing seems to suit is industrial scenes, and large concrete structures.
For these shots under the Skyline Bridge, I abandoned my usual approach of a light hand with HDR processing and let loose to bring out detail in the concrete and metal.
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White-winged Duck
Description:
A large forest duck, generally dark underneath a lighter head. Male has a yellow bill. White wing coverts.
Range:
Historically the species ranged from northern India to Indonesia. It has undergone a drastic decline and is found only in pockets in this area.
Range map (Birdlife International)
Status:
This species has sharply declined and Birdlife International classifies it as Endangered. The world population is estimated to be under 1,000 and is still declining.
White-winged Duck
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Mill Covered Bridge, Vermont
When Built: Unknown
Builders: Lewis Robinson
Description: Also known as the Lower or Junction Bridge, it spans the Calavole Brook on Back Road off of Route 109.
This is part of a series on Vermont’s Covered Bridges. You can find an index here.
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When I made this image a few years ago in Costa Rica, i loved the scene with it’s great color but when I downloaded I was disappointed. The harsh light had caused deep shadows and washed out the color.
When I recently came upon it, I processed it with Photomatix in HDR (High Dynamic Range), all it needed was a light touch to bring it to what I had seen in the first place.
Of course, it would not have been possible, if I had not shot in RAW.
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Maple Street Covered Bridge, Vermont
When Built: 1865
Builders: Builder Unknown
Description: Also known as the Lower Bridge, this 57 foot bridge, spans Mill Brook on Maple Street in Fairfax village
This is part of a series on Vermont’s Covered Bridges. You can find an index here.
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Hoary Redpoll
Unlike the similar Common Redpoll, the Hoary Redpoll is rarely seen here in southern Ontario. When it does show, it is in the company of the more numerous Commons but is separated by slightly larger, but noticeable size. lighter overall shade, smaller bill, and white rump, as well as finer streaking on the front.
It has been a bit of a nemesis bird for me, although I’ve seen a few, I’ve never gotten a good photo of one.
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Blue Jay
One very cold morning on a deserted Algonquin sideroad. I put some shelled peanuts out in the hopes of attracting some Gray Jays. They did come along for a few minutes but were soon forced out by a dozen aggressive Blue Jays.
While sitting in my car, I tried to get photos of them as they dove from the tree branches to the pile of peanuts below. My success rate was very low, 1 or 2 in a hundred, but I was pleased to get a few I liked.
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Image with blue cast
I took this photo of a Common Pochard in La Camargue, France. A first glance tells me that it has a decided blue cast because there is a simple process to get rid of it. It goes like this.
| Make a duplicate layer | Layer>>Duplicate Layer |
| Make that layer the average color for the image. This will be the dominant cast | Filter>>Blur>>Average |
| Change this color to its opposite complement | Image>>Adjustment>>Invert |
| Now we’ll change the current layer mode from Normal to Color. This is best done by changing the Box in the upper left of the layers menu. | Change Layer mode to Color |
| At this point we should have a gray image as we canceled all the color. It remains just to adjust the Opacity of this layer to suit. Often 15-20% is plenty but in our example, I changed it 30%. It is easily adjusted in the box in the upper right of the layers pattern. | Lower opacity to suit. |
If you set up this procedure in an Action, you can do it in seconds. You can download the following action and load it into your Actions menu. After running it, you need only adjust the Opacity (I have the action set at 12% opacity)
Download Cast Correct Action
After
This tutorial is a part of the Photoshop Workflow Series
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