Clovis" 2026 Images

[clovishound]

I,m not a big fan of grey squirrels, and don't normally spend much time shooting them. With a camera, that is. I grabbed this shot to see just how much I could fill the frame with the new lens. I'm hoping the extra reach of the new lens will help when photographing very small birds like warblers and hummingbirds.

[markiver54]

I,m not a big fan of grey squirrels, and don't normally spend much time shooting them. With a camera, that is.

I'm with you on that one Clovis.
Great shots as usual.

[CT_Shooter]

I,m not a big fan of grey squirrels, and don't normally spend much time shooting them. With a camera, that is.

That's a great lens, CH. And you shoot it so very well.

The Grey Squirrel is my town's mascot and it's official logo. It's thought that, as game meat, squirrels supported lots of families here during the 1930s. There are literally hundreds of thousands of them roaming these woods and suburbs along the CT River. Our old friend Bandit used to write to tell stories about hunting, canning, and eating them. (I miss him here.) They are supposed to be pretty good food. Someday, I may get to taste it, but even though I have a firearms hunting license, I do not have a back that can carry a rifle into woods anymore, so... Sigh.

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[clovishound]

Got up early and drove up to Sumter to meet with other members of the local Carolina Nature Photographers Association at Swan Lake. Nothing to stop the Nat Geo presses over, but got a few decent shots. I was hoping for some good geese in flight shots, and all I got was bird butts.

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[CT_Shooter]

[Ernie]

Thank you for sharing. I am always impressed.

[markiver54]

[brm4450]

[Hatchdog]

Great, nice shots of the Greenhead. “Bird Butts” never thought of that one.

[clovishound]

Wildlife photographers often lament about getting "bird butt" pictures. It is the least pleasing angle to get an image with. Sometimes, though, it's either that or nothing.

[clovishound]

Here is a conundrum I have over editing techniques and ethics. I already posted this image from Saturday's outing to Swan Lake. Here it is again for reference.

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I love the detail in the female mallard, and especially like the look of the trees reflected in the surface of the water. I don't like the distracting out of focus male in the background. I should have recognized how good that water surface looked and hung around the area for the ducks to return and get more images. Water under the bridge. I decided to try removing the male in Lightroom to see what it would have looked like. Here is the result.

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I don't mind using the remove tool to get rid of a small branch or blade of grass, but I really hate to substantially change an image this much. I do like the results, however. I suppose one thing that weighs on my mind is the fact that I cannot use an image manipulated in this manner to enter in most contests. That shouldn't be a major consideration, but it does factor in to my feelings toward the image.

What do ya'll think?

[CT_Shooter]

I'm strongly in favor of making the photograph as well as can be done inside of the camera, then manipulating the light and color to print or publish... but not much more than that, if we're talking about photography.

I'm having a very hard time with the concept of digital image manipulation. It's one thing to create the image of a character or an environment that doesn't exist using computers, like in Jurassic Park, Avatar, or Lord of the Rings, as examples; but I'm deeply conflicted about the newest film using Val Kilmer's image and voice in a theatrical production as interpreted by Artificial Intelligence. It's a serious issue for me as someone who appreciates art, especially filmmaking. My instinct is to reject it in all of it's forms (with minor exceptions).

Since I know it can't be otherwise, I'm glad I'm old and won't have to grapple with it for much longer. Val Kilmer's AI performance is just the first of who knows what's to come.

I'm pretty certain that life on earth in five years will not be recognizable. No Country For Old Men.

[clovishound]

When I did film photography, I had my own darkroom. I enjoyed fine tuning my prints with everything from cropping, exposure, contrast as well as dodging and burning. To me, that was part of the process, although getting it as close to "perfect" as possible in camera was my goal.

Ansel Adams believed that the work in the darkroom was as important as the work in the field. In fact, his famous Zone System revolved around customizing your development based on the exposure and lighting conditions when taking the image. I frequently expose shots knowing that the highlights are somewhat overexposed and the shadows are somewhat underexposed in order to keep the maximum balance of detail in both. I know that I will be adjusting specific areas separately, when editing, to bring out their detail. It is a balancing act as the sensor doesn't "see" the scene in the same way the eye does. I also routinely use software to "de-noise" images taken at high ISOs, which makes them "noisy", similar to grainy in film. It's a choice of either cleaning up noisy shots, or having grainy images, or not taking the photo at all. BTW, color noise looks really weird, and is totally unacceptable to me. As someone who concentrates on wildlife photography, I rarely have the luxury of shooting at low ISOs. I frequently need fast shutter speeds, and often shoot in lower light conditions.

I'm totally comfortable with that approach. What gives me pause is using software that removes items and fills in the void created using either a copy of surrounding areas, or AI generated fill. While I try and avoid relying on this to salvage, or improve my images, there are times when it is tempting. It's very easy to see this as just another tool like the dodging and burning tools I used in my B&W darkroom. It also can be a slippery slope that can take one's photography down a path that removes it from actually capturing images of nature, and turns it into creating an image from software housed in a data center somewhere.

[BrokenolMarine]

I agree my friend.

Look what has happened to the music industry. I can't remember ALL the details, but a very hot rising star in the music industry turned out to be AI generated. From her singing voice, her voice heard in interviews, to her image. Her image wasn't stolen off the internet, it was AI magic. I think I remember she (oops, I mean it,) had award winning hits, which brought the story to light.

Artists in the studios are against the use of AI to produce full pieces, they would be cut out completely.

[clovishound]

We are beginning to see the scenarios I once read about in science fiction stories.

Hopefully the Terminator plots will not come to fruition.

[clovishound]

Well, the Pup and I went to the North Charleston Arts Festival tonight. We both entered several images into the photography competition. Unfortunately, the Pup didn't win anything, although she had a lot of comments on several of hers, and sold one almost right away. I managed to snag two wins. The competition was noticeably stiffer this year compared to last.

This one won 1st place in amateur, monochrome. The print I submitted actually got trimmed to square format due to a boo-boo in the mounting process. It actually works well as a square.

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This won honorable mention in the amateur, color category.

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[clovishound]

Here's two of the Pup's images. The owl shot is the one that sold right away. Sorry, I'm suffering from PDS. Proud Dad Syndrome.

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[CT_Shooter]

Outstanding. Wow. Love both of them.

[markiver54]

Very nice! great work by both of you.

[Ernie]

My Mac has great resolution and I am blown away with the details of all four shots.

Thanks for sharing