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California Dreaming

California Dreaming

Old Sep 11, 2016, 2:41 pm
  #1  
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California Dreaming

Hello Everyone,

New member here! I enjoy photographing the beautiful birds and wildlife that grace the Central Coast of California. Birds are my favorite subjects and I wanted to share some of my photographs with you.

My camera collection includes the Canon SX50, Canon SX40, and Nikon Coolpix P610, all of which are superzoom bridge cameras. I've been extremely pleased with these cameras.

All of my bird & wildlife photos were taken hand-held and have not been cropped. I prefer portrait style captures of my subjects whenever possible. One strategy I consistently employ to capture nice detail in my subjects is by using my superzooms specifically as "frame fillers." This means that I use the zoom to "fill the frame" with a very near subject rather than zooming in on a very distant subject. Of course, I enjoy taking wider angle, environmental style shots, as well.

I post-process my images using Photoshop Elements 12 and if I notice "noise" in my images then I'll also use Topaz Labs DeNoise software, as well.

These photos were taken along the Central Coast of California and include locations such as Monterey, Pacific Grove, Santa Cruz and Moss Landing. I hope you enjoy these photos!

Tony

1. Double-crested Cormorant

2. Great Blue Heron (yawning!)

3. Wood Duck

4. Brown Pelican

5. Snowy Egret

6. Green Heron

7. Black-crowned Night Heron
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Old Sep 20, 2016, 10:42 am
  #2  
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Great shorts...
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Old Sep 20, 2016, 8:53 pm
  #3  
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More from my Central Coast Collection. Birds are truly living works of art!

Tony

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Old Sep 20, 2016, 11:17 pm
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Wow what a cool images of birds and Duck. I love all of these images. Really Interesting and great images of these birds. I am thinking to share all of these images with my nephews. They are big lover of animals and I am sure they will like these images.
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Old Sep 21, 2016, 12:06 am
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I must say that guys you have shared really nice and amazing kinds of images of the birs. I liked that seriously but most of all Ring-billed gull is my favorites bird and i love to see him in my time and want to spend some time as well.
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Old Sep 21, 2016, 5:25 am
  #6  
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Originally Posted by Alonzo123
Great shorts...
Thanks very much!

Tony
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Old Sep 21, 2016, 5:27 am
  #7  
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Originally Posted by Sean321
Wow what a cool images of birds and Duck. I love all of these images. Really Interesting and great images of these birds. I am thinking to share all of these images with my nephews. They are big lover of animals and I am sure they will like these images.
Thanks for taking the time to look and comment. I hope your nephews enjoy these images!

Tony
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Old Sep 21, 2016, 5:30 am
  #8  
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Originally Posted by salimon
I must say that guys you have shared really nice and amazing kinds of images of the birs. I liked that seriously but most of all Ring-billed gull is my favorites bird and i love to see him in my time and want to spend some time as well.
Thanks for looking and commenting. The Ring-billed Gull is one of my favorite birds and this particular photo is a good example of taking advantage of side-lighting, which is one of my favorite strategies in photography.

Tony
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Old Sep 21, 2016, 5:44 am
  #9  
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Here's a mix of portrait and wide angle shots. I hope you enjoy these!

Tony

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Old Sep 21, 2016, 6:14 am
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How do you get the very good DOF in your photos? The Canon SX40/50 has a rather smallish sensor...
Is that Photoshop at work?
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Old Sep 21, 2016, 7:17 am
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Originally Posted by Dieuwer
How do you get the very good DOF in your photos? The Canon SX40/50 has a rather smallish sensor...
Is that Photoshop at work?
Hello,

No, it's not a result of Photoshop. I shoot better than 90% of my photos using Shutter Priority Mode (Tv). Therefore, I don't intentionally set the aperture value for control over DOF. Proximity to my subject and distance between the subject and the background is what I rely on for my bokeh backgrounds.

In response #3 in this thread, note image #2 of the Heermann's Gull. The beautiful pink in the background is ice plant. That's a good example of how & why I use Tv mode. Of course, this effect could be accomplished using Manual Mode or Aperture Priority modes, but it's simply a preference that works reliably and quickly for me.

Every one of my exposures is based solely upon the mood I want to strike in the image and how I want to use the available light I have to work with. The final exposure, therefore, is visually based and then confirmed in the viewfinder or LCD. In this way, any particular camera setting such as shutter speed, aperture value, etc., that's recorded for that particular photo is purely coincidental and not intentional. I literally select a shooting mode, Tv for example, and "spin dials and push buttons" until I like what I see! I never approach a subject with camera settings in mind. I've learned the monumental difference between "making" a photograph and "taking" a snapshot.

Also, shooting in Tv mode and having more control over shutter speeds with these fixed-lens superzoom cameras, especially at near or maximum zoom greatly helps reduce hand-held camera shake.

I hope this helps!


Tony
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Old Sep 21, 2016, 7:24 am
  #12  
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I hope you enjoy these!

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