While I'm looking for excuses as well as "saturation" and other options on PSElements 7 (& wondering where I dumped my old CS2) would anybody identify the raptor in this photo AND the species of tree he is perched on?

Vulture Valse from Crete in 2006 ...

http://ts.vimeo.com.s3.amazonaws.com...712754_100.jpg

Brendan,

The picture looks like the owl, perhaps an eagle owl or long ear, was photoshopped in. I am not great with fauna, but that kind of plant is usally quite small.


Can you enlighten us??

Yes Dale, you are correct the owl was added into that image. Brendan, try using the edge refine tool for a hard edge around the owl, then scale your added image a little more suitable in proportin to the image you are adding it to. (meaning that plant is just that, a plant not a tree as you are lending the viewer to believe by adding the owl) This may help make it look less descerable if that is what you are trying to accomplish here.
For your underwing detail in your original image, try using the shadow/highlight tool in PS for those shadowed underwing shots, then adjusting everything else after that to your liking.

This looks like a completely staged image to me! I think it is a branch from a woody shrub - quite possibly a Euphorbia species - wedged in among a few small mossy rocks etc. A low quality image of some species of owl has then been "perched" using Photoshop.

Is this a trailer for April 1? Or did you over-indulge on St. Paddy's day Brendan?

OK. I'll try again. You're right about the Eagle Owl but what's the bush? And thanks for the practice; you can see I need it.

I will revise my opinion - the shrub is definitely not a Euphorbia - the flowers are not appropriate (you haven't superimosed those as well as the owl, have you Brendan?).

This time the shrub is clearly pasted into the image too -the rock to its left is not in focus, whilst both the shrub and the background are!

The shrub is not native to NW Europe, the Canary Islands, or New Zealand, I think. It may belong in Central or South America.

Bright spark Alan. Crassula sarcocaulis (mine is 15cm/6inches high) is native to low mountains of Transvaal, SA. [Euphorbia mellifera has similar shaped flower clusters.] A DOF of f/5 from 2 yards away meant that parts of crassula (& stone to left of it) are out of focus. Background was shot @f/8.

Thank you all for your specific comments and here I'm back to my favourite ...

Yes, I know Euphorbia mellifera from La Gomera and La Palma in the Canary Islands, but I have never seen it in flower. I have never seen a "woody" crassula, but Africa is the one continent that I have not been to.

You were born a couple of hundred years too late, Haast's Eagle would have been your favourite bird. Earlier this year, I was shown a partial skeleton found in a cave in the far NW of South Island, New Zealand. They had relatively short wings, ca 3 metres, for a bird thought to weigh as much as 15 kg.

Shucks, I've lost count now of the ones that got away since my camel kicked that dodo a while back ... my brief epitaph already reads ...

here lie the bones
of good ol' Bren
he hit the wall
and missed the hen

But here's a Grey Heron, 6ft wingspan. The only adjustment has been to crop the original from size 33% to size 50% ...

And me after breaking my butt to freeze my solo heron, along comes Bob Thompson with the Hong Kong version of the same species ... BUT, there's TWO of them and they're playing LEAPFROG while croaking God Save King Kong ... what next!

Is it possible to tell which of these has a 6ft wingspan and which has a 9ft wingspan without a common denominator?

Brendan,


I know the birds so it is an easy call; however one really needs something to compare them to in order to get a sense of size from the picture. That is not real easy to accomplish.

with vultures i have often seen them soaring with other birds and that would be a great opportunity to get size comparisons if the bird were easily recognizable like a gull or such.

with uniform back ground one could shop in a gull rather easily. give it a try.


Brendan I am truly enjoying your stills. would like to see more of your video on vimeo or such.

2 clips, XL2 (or XM2 ?) on tripod so not as jumpy as usual ....

Griffon Vultures ins & outs on Vimeo

Griffon Vultures landing on Vimeo

Thanks for the push, Dale

Brendan,

The IN and Outs is pretty awesome!! the landing one could use a little enhancement as it is rather dark, but still nice.

Keep at those vultures and keep working on getting flying sequences!! They are always the hardest.

Have you started building a project of you best clips? You must have enough footage by now!! Cut me a dvd when you do!!

I have been in the editing room 7 or more hours a day for the last week building an hour and a half video, labor intensive. I need to unplug and go find an eagle or such to film!!