Heron on Log - Part II

I had posted this image a few months ago.  Lots of brown stuff, green stuff and some yellow.  And I never pass up a log.  The bird is OK too.
When I posted this before, I wasn't sure of what type of bird it was - and now I know these are herons.
The original post is here.
This is the original posed image:

As I remember, at the time I really liked this image.  I was just getting into the 'bird' scene.
This one shows up well on the monitor.  It was taken at 1.3 image size with the 70-300 lens.  There a lot of math involved there, but it was relatively far away.  It is one of the few shots taken with the 1.3 image size that actually shows up well on the monitor.
So today I was looking for images to test the AI Clear filter and tried it on this one.  My purpose of the AIC filter is primarily noise reduction.  Not much visible noise in this image.  But on the image the sharpening/smoothing was fantastic.  I could crop in a bit more.  This is what I got today with AIC added to the workflow.

Outside of the AIC, I deepened the colors a bit more.  For focusing purposes, I keyed on the eye.  In this scenario, I hit the image with AIC first, then continued with ACR.  At the end though, I didn't need On One to finish up with sharpening.  I did try some dynamic contrast - but that didn't do much either.  So no On One with this one.
Maybe my eyes have adjusted a bit better over the last few months?

Topaz AI Clear

Continuing the search for help with noise removal, I've started looking at Topaz's AI Clear.  
Currently this is $60 ish.  And the 15% discount coupons can be found everywhere.
That's the bad news, because everything else is good.
I've been working with PS - the RAW filter and it's pretty good.  I worked with On One's noise reduction and really wasn't that impressed.  And then I stumbled on the AI Clear.
My quick test against PS.

AI Clear on the left, PS on the right.  In the flat background, much smoother.  Truth be told, I could get almost the same effect with PS, but unless I did some masking and layering I would have 'smoothed' the entire critter and lost some of the great detail.  What doesn't show and what is really great about the product, the detail on the critter 'sharpens'.  I guess that is the AI part, Artificial Intelligence.  For this test with AIC, I used only the default settings.
Easy decision on this.

Topaz AI Gigapixel

In the quest for cutting down noise, I came across Topaz's AI Gigapixel.  The advertising line is that this product will enlarge any image a bunch.  There are plenty of Youtube videos.
For my purposes, I'd like to be more aggressive in my cropping.  I haven't had any requests to blow up an image to wall size.  Yet.
Did I mention, I really like products with 30 full trials?
So my test image is part of one I took last fall, that of a grass hopper that hitched a ride on the hood of the truck while riding through Shiawassee Nature Refuge.
This original post/story is here.
This is the image:

So I took a small slice of this image and blew it up 400%.  I used PS, in one leap, and AIG.  I understand that PS will do a much better job of expanding an image if done in steps, but there is a time element in this.
My findings:

OK - to see the difference is noticeable at 400% magnification.  Is it at a normal size?  Not so much, but my use would be aggressive crop.  There's a pretty big difference.
Now, is it worth the cost?  The product is $100 - and there are plenty of 15% off coupons for Topaz products floating around.   I have plenty of time to decide, only on day 3 of the evaluation.

Broadwing Hawk - Eyes on Eyes

One of the best series of shot from last year's trips to the Nature Refuge was the Broadwing Hawk.  The story to get here.
I like this shot looking straight on.
This is as far as I can reach.  The effect mm is 600 on this shot and in the original the subject is very small.
One of the 'creative criticisms' I received this year from the photo club is my nature subjects were not large enough in the image.  Some of my framing issues were with, well framing.  Not in this case, because I was at the limit of the equipment.  (Planning to resolve this issue!)
The original:

ISO 640, f/5.6, 1/800 sec, 600 mm

NIKON D7200 Ver.1.04/70.0-300.0 mm f/4.5-5.6

I guess that's OK for a travel photo, but I want to see the bird.

That's better and it easily passes the monitor test.
I'm playing with a Topaz product, AI Clear.  In the past few weeks, I've been going after noise reduction.  I've been playing with Photoshop and On One.  I really like PS's ARE noise reduction.  I can see it.  I struggled with On One's version, which is usually not the case.  I've been reading about Topaz's suite of products from a number on UHH forum members so giving AI Clear a shot.  (I love full edition 30 day trials.)  So this image has so Topaz in it.  And it is good.

Two Too Close

I have more than a few shots that I didn't frame well, or didn't have enough reach with the lens.  The final test is can I crop enough to get a good image on a 23 inch monitor - and get a good image on a 23 inch monitor.
What follows is completely un-scientific.  The question is - is crop processing on the original image to a small section give a better image or increase the size of the image then crop to the size required for the monitor test?
For the D7200, a normal image size is 20 x 13.33 Inches.  So what if the image was enlarged say 400%?  To 80 x 53.33 inches?
I've tried what I would call aggressive cropping in some of the nature images and they didn't turn out very well on the monitor.  If you know what you were looking for you could see the pixels.  Damn gaming monitor.
Anyway, I thought maybe the algorithms to enlarge the image would be different than to shrink.  Worth a shot, eh?
This image followed that path.  It was enlarged to 400%, then cropped to 6.4 x 3.6 inches.
This is the original image.

This is the RAW image so a bit on the bland side.  But this is for the relative size of the subjects.
And this would be the final image, blow'd up and cropped close.

ISO 800, f/6.3, 1/8000 sec, 165 mm

NIKON D7200 Ver.1.04/70.0-300.0 mm f/4.5-5.6

Spare me the frozen prop stuff, already know it.  And a had a lot more lens to use, so framing could have been better.  It has occurred to me that because of the high speed, that this process was helped a bit.  So I'll look for a slower shot and see what happens.

Fort Mackinac from the Bay

This image of  Fort Mackinac was taken in late June, 2011.  We were on a day trip to Mackinac Island, and the day weather-wise was perfect.  This image was taken from the ferry on the way from the island returning to the mainland at the end of our stay.
On the hill is Fort Mackinac.  The white diagonal is the walkway.
The Fort has an interesting history.  The current fort was built in the early 1780s by the British.  The Fort remained under British control until 1796 when the Fort was turned over to the United States as part of the Treaty of Paris agreement.  As part of the War of 1812, the British regained control of the Fort without firing a shot in July of that year.  The British retained control through July of 1814, when the terms that concluded the War reverted control of the Fort back to America.  
From the end of the war to the mid 1800s, the Fort was basically used for exploration and trading.
Currently the museum is in great shape and is very interesting.  And the entire Island is interesting.  The Island is definitely worth a visit.  It helps if the weather is nice.
This image does include something you will never see again.  The docks are part of the Arnold Transit Company.  Unfortunately the ATC closed its doors in 2016 after 138 years of continuous service.
As to the image, while looking at some old vacation files I saw this one.  Lots of great colors and subjects.  I like the Fort on the hill and the vessels down below.  I really like the larger vessel on the right, takes up a lot of great space.  I like the color flow all around.

NIKON D90/18.0-200.0 mm f/3.5-5.6

ISO 400, f/10, 1/400 sec, 75 mm

And I thought this would look good in a creative style.

Back in 2011, I was just shoot and pray.  This one did OK.

Hello 2019

Hello 2019.
Good-by to 2018.  What an enlightening year for me, photographically speaking.  And really it was the last six months.
My interests expanded, some of my techniques improved and I'd like to say my tastes evolved.  Butterfly.
In blog post numbers, from August to year end I had 92 posts.  Funny enough, that was not the most for a year.  In 2010 I had 94 posts.  What was I talking 'bout then?  But for this year, I had a grand total of 4 posts through the end of February.  Then August hit.
August started with a purchase of the 70-300 lens.  There was a lot of time spent in looking what lens to get with the stated purpose of taking to the Air Races in September.  I wanted to get a few shots of practice before going out west.  After the purchase, I went out to Port Huron for to my 'seagull' testing.  At some point during that time, I also decided to go to the Shiawassee Nature Refuge to do the auto tour.  I had hiked out there before, but not the auto tour.  Word of advice, take the auto tour.
On my first time on the auto route, I was overwhelmed.  There was so much going on in August.  Days are still long, kids are feeding and most of all, still great weather.  I didn't know where to look!  For as much as I saw, I bet I missed more.
Half way through the tour, this happened.  The Juvenile Bald Eagle.

What an experience.  I've never been a nature or bird enthusiast before.  And not that I'm fully invested now, but I can see where others find the enjoyment.  This was an awesome moment for me.  Side story here, but one of the more defining moments of my life was seeing turtles coming out of the ocean on Ascension Island and laying eggs.  This event has been going on for centuries.  And I could see it - not on Nova.  And back to the present, to see a juvenile bald eagle, the one day symbol of our country.  Wow.
One other item I noticed, was the improvement of the quality of my images.  Was it because of ability?, Equipment?  Not sure, but this had a great impact on personal interest on perfecting the craft.  Three things happened simultaneously that could have contributed.  First, and what I believe the primary reason is was the new lens, and it being a FF lens.  I believe that there is better quality in a FF lens versus a DX lens.  One of the other reasons could be I changed the UV filter on this lens, I didn't skimp.  The third possibility was I had to upgrade the firmware on the D7200 to accept the new lens.  Any one of those fixes alone or combinations of those fixes could be the reason for what I think are higher quality images.  But I will add, that since changing the UV filter and the upgrade on the D7200, images with my other lenses have been improved as well.  I go with 75% FF lens plus the improved quality on UV filter.  I will not be adding any new DX lenses - FF now.
So a lot of August was spent going to the refuge once a weekend.  Saw lots of ducks, egrets, cranes and hawks.  The new lens got a workout.
Then in September was the Air Races.
What fun.  Even with all the research and talking with friends about what to do and how to do it, I still could have done much better.  Nothing like personal experience.  But what experience I did get, was great.  The most interesting challenge for me was the change in environment between Michigan skies and Nevada skies.  You just have to be there.  For my first time there, I did OK.  Very few technically 'bad' or unusable shots.  But aesthetically, I have a long way to go.  A reason to return in 2019.  The prop driven airplanes were the toughest to capture correctly.  I could have done much better, but I did learn and can move forward this year.  The jets were, not so much easy, but more friendly to capture.  However I went in with too much ISO all around.  The final images could be much better.
But sometimes you get lucky.

I know, not exactly perfect.  Room for improvement.
The week after returning from the Air Races, time for the annual Detroit Model Railroad Club shoot.
This is the third year for this event for me, and I have learned along the way.  This year I went prime lens all the way.  Huge difference.  The lens I used was a 50 mm (FF) which is equivalent to a 75 mm on the D7200.  That cause a few framing issues because of the cramped areas on the layout, but I just had to be smarter.  The shots came out crisp and clean.  Again, technically good.  For these shots I used a focus stacking technique and specialized software.  I also ditched the bean bag that was used in previous shoots, as I believe it was causing some havoc with the focus ring.  I found a small plastic tripod that did well.  One issue to fix this year is with this tripod and battery grip.  The point of reference is too high. The angle of the shots could be better.  The battery grip will be removed.  I'll be ready this year.

In October, I purchased the D500.  Up to this point I was using the D7200, which is a fine camera and I will continue to use it.  But the D500 is in another league.  Upgraded sensor.  Faster FPS.  Larger buffer.
First major trip out with the D500 was a quick weekend in Pittsburgh.  Of all the time I've spent in town, I really don't have any good shots, other than a few of Pitt's Cathedral of learning.  I now have a few.  Of the shots I like the most is one of Pittsburgh's iconic incline cable cars.

Right time of year and sunny.  Lucky.  (Knowing you have to make your own luck.)
In December, a few of the camera club wanted to take a few shots of some large steam train that was running in Michigan.  They invited me to go along.  Make your own luck sort of adventure.  Thus began a new 'interest' affair.
The train is the Pere Marquette #1225.  The history and extended stories around this vehicle was fun to research.  Fascinating story.  And chasing the #1225 was an incredible amount of fun.  Looking forward to next year's #1225 schedule.

On a technical note, this was probably the most correct image I've taken all year.  Everything was right.  Speed, Aperture, ISO, framing, focus, subject.  All there.
On the software side, I continue with Photoshop as my main processing program.  I upgraded my On One to 2019 edition for some post processing work, mostly sharpening and mask work.  I also continue to use Photomatix for HDR, although my tastes in HDR is not so much for effect anymore but to work light levels.  Less is more.  Still worth the price.  The Helicon programs, Remote and Focus, are still my go-to programs for focus stacking.  I picked up a new software program to help with altering photographs with an artistic twist.  I'm not happy with PS's sketching offerings, I was looking to do better.  I found a program that with do a 'paint' effect.  It's not for everything, but sometimes it is awesome.

The last six months have been a lot of fun.  Time to move forward.  Like most people, I'm my harshest critic.  I'm an amateur with professional expectations.  I have to learn from each outing.  My 'growth' expectations for 2019 are high.
On the schedule for 2019 is a return trip to Reno in September for the Air Races again.  In a few weeks, I'll be going to the DMRRC.  New on the schedule is a trip to SC for an Air Show.  (The air show will be fun, I'll be going with a veteran air show photographer who will not let any of my crappy thoughts or efforts slide.  Boot camp.)  Also looking forward to train chasing, in whatever form presents itself.
Hello 2019.  No pressure.