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Light Catcher
10-01-2016, 11:18 AM
Hello,

New member here. I especially enjoy photographing the beautiful birds that grace the Central Coast of California. I prefer portrait style captures whenever possible and use superzoom cameras to accomplish this. All of my bird and wildlife photographs were taken hand-held and have not been cropped.

I especially enjoy taking advantage of side-lighting to capture the types of images I find appealing, so shooting during early morning or late afternoon works best for me. I use Photoshop Elements 12 and Topaz Labs DeNoise to post-process my images.

I hope you enjoy viewing these beautiful birds, which I call living works of art.

Regards,
Tony

1. Double-crested Cormorant
https://photos.smugmug.com/Other/Canon-SX50-HS/i-mnc3CGh/1/M/img_4471%20-%20copy-M.jpg
2. Black-crowned Night Heron
https://photos.smugmug.com/Other/Canon-SX50-HS/i-QFTgSfw/0/M/IMG_0358-M.jpg
3. Snowy Egret
https://photos.smugmug.com/Other/Nikon-Coolpix-P610/i-TjHscMG/0/M/2016se-M.jpg
4. Green Heron
https://photos.smugmug.com/Other/Strictly-For-The-Birds/i-ZGgWgpX/0/M/greenheronbritton2015-M.jpg
5. Great Blue Heron
https://photos.smugmug.com/Other/Canon-SX50-HS/i-mC5BjNV/1/M/Great%20Blue%20Heron%20Tony%20Britton%202014-M.jpg

Runmonty
10-05-2016, 03:01 AM
welcome to the forum Tony and what a great way to start. These are great. #3 & #4 are my favourites.

Keep 'em coming.

Oh, and I also had a chuckle at your signature quote :laughing:

zombiesniper
10-05-2016, 12:24 PM
Very nice set.

Light Catcher
10-05-2016, 09:40 PM
welcome to the forum Tony and what a great way to start. These are great. #3 & #4 are my favourites.

Keep 'em coming.

Oh, and I also had a chuckle at your signature quote :laughing:

Thanks for the welcome and comments. I really enjoyed viewing your excellent Flickr website.

Tony

Light Catcher
10-05-2016, 09:43 PM
Very nice set.

Thanks very much. You take great photos.

Tony

Light Catcher
10-05-2016, 09:55 PM
I hope you enjoy this mix of wide angle & portrait photos.

1. Snowy Egret
https://photos.smugmug.com/Other/My-Favorite-Photos/i-LfzLQXZ/0/L/Snowy%20Egret%20Series%20tony%20brittonphotography %202016-L.jpg
2. Heermann's Gull
https://photos.smugmug.com/Other/My-Favorite-Photos/i-twcR3mK/0/M/IMG_7707-M.jpg
3. Great Egret
https://photos.smugmug.com/Other/Strictly-For-The-Birds/i-f8LRkvJ/0/M/DGRIN2016Britton%20%2811%29-M.jpg
4. Double-crested Cormorant
https://photos.smugmug.com/Other/Canon-SX50-HS/i-GRmk8mM/0/M/cormorants2016-M.jpg
5. Snowy Egret
https://photos.smugmug.com/Other/Strictly-For-The-Birds/i-962j375/0/L/snowyegretprofiletonybritton2016-L.jpg
6. Brown Pelican
https://photos.smugmug.com/Other/Canon-SX50-HS/i-kJcXRzj/1/L/Brown%20Pelican-L.jpg
7. Ring-billed Gull
https://photos.smugmug.com/Other/My-Favorite-Photos/i-gB8MLR5/0/M/ring-billed%20gull%20britton2016-M.jpg

Marko
10-05-2016, 10:26 PM
Welcome to the forum Tony - These are super sharp with good gestures and comps - well done for sure!

zombiesniper
10-06-2016, 04:50 PM
Another excellent set.

Light Catcher
10-06-2016, 09:37 PM
Welcome to the forum Tony - These are super sharp with good gestures and comps - well done for sure!

Thanks for the welcome and comment. I appreciate that!

Tony

Light Catcher
10-06-2016, 09:38 PM
Another excellent set.

Thanks very much.

Tony

Light Catcher
10-06-2016, 09:48 PM
Another set of my favorites.

1. Wood Duck
https://photos.smugmug.com/Other/Canon-SX50-HS/i-gMBMDPs/3/M/woodducks2016britton-M.jpg
2. Snowy Egret
https://photos.smugmug.com/Other/Strictly-For-The-Birds/i-HjJZqW2/2/M/audubon2015tonybritton%20%2814%29-M.jpg
3. Double-crested Cormorant
https://photos.smugmug.com/Other/Canon-SX50-HS/i-VM3kc2M/1/L/glorious%20cormorant-L.jpg
4. Black-crowned Night Heron (adult form)
https://photos.smugmug.com/Other/Canon-SX50-HS/i-kGppsG7/0/M/IMG_7502-M.jpg
5. Black-crowned Night Heron (juvenile form)
https://photos.smugmug.com/Other/My-Favorite-Photos/i-vnSjwtC/0/M/latemaybritton%20%283%29-M.jpg
6. Green Heron
https://photos.smugmug.com/Other/Strictly-For-The-Birds/i-b56P9VP/0/M/bestwestlake2016tbritton-M.jpg
7. Blue Heron
https://photos.smugmug.com/Other/Strictly-For-The-Birds/i-9p3BXcK/0/M/libraryposts2016britton-M.jpg

zombiesniper
10-06-2016, 10:06 PM
Well done.
Love the dark backgrounds. I'm guessing that you're using a flash for this?

Light Catcher
10-06-2016, 10:44 PM
Well done.
Love the dark backgrounds. I'm guessing that you're using a flash for this?

Thanks.

I don't use a flash for my black background photos. I think the best and most complete way to share this information with you is to include this excerpt from my "Canon SX50 Hints & Tips" page from my photography website. Fortunately, many people like this effect and I always enjoy sharing information regarding camera technique & strategies. Let me know if you have any further questions.

Here's the excerpt:

MY BLACK BACKGROUND PHOTOS
My favorite type of image involves the use of "side-lighting" of the subject. During early morning or late afternoon hours I simply take advantage of the position of the sun. I place myself in a position so the sunlight is mainly striking the subject from the side. In this way, the subject is typically half in sunlight and half in shadow. Think of a first quarter or gibbous moon, for example. Additionally, the black backgrounds you see in my images require that the area especially behind the subject be fairly dark to begin with. I start decreasing the Exposure Compensation value until the foreground and background begin to "disappear." In this way, plenty of sunlight remains on the subject and areas around it begin to darken. I make adjustments until I like what I see. Now I have a good "foundation" image to work with during post-processing. I use Photoshop Elements 12. During post-processing I first select a one-click AUTO LEVELS or AUTO CONTRAST depending on which looks best. Then under "ADJUST LIGHTING" I simply decrease the LEVELS until all hints of the information around the subject goes completely black. The subject still remains in "good light" while everything else in the frame is now black and I'm left with the images you see on my website. That's it.

Tony

Light Catcher
10-07-2016, 05:34 PM
Favorite Black & White conversions.

1. Snowy Egret
https://photos.smugmug.com/Other/Strictly-For-The-Birds/i-JBzZGtH/0/M/britton2016bw-M.jpg
2. Great Blue Heron
https://photos.smugmug.com/Other/Strictly-For-The-Birds/i-sfbm4F3/0/M/bw2016%20%281%29-M.jpg
3. Great Egret
https://photos.smugmug.com/Other/Strictly-For-The-Birds/i-GZxQxM2/0/M/Great%20Egret%20Black%20and%20White%202016-M.jpg
4. Double-created Cormorant
https://photos.smugmug.com/Other/Strictly-For-The-Birds/i-S7Z8Cnv/0/L/bwcorm2016-L.jpg
5. Mute Swan
https://photos.smugmug.com/Other/Strictly-For-The-Birds/i-Bsn7hFb/0/L/brittonswans2016-L.jpg
6. Snowy Egret
https://photos.smugmug.com/Other/Strictly-For-The-Birds/i-R53g4q5/0/M/bw2016%20%286%29-M.jpg

Iguanasan
11-02-2016, 10:17 AM
A very belated welcome to the forum. What an awesome set of images. The detail is excellent and you make it pretty much impossible to pick a favourite from all of these wonderful images. I hope I get to see more. :thumbup:

asnow
11-02-2016, 02:41 PM
Too many awesome images to pick a favourite. Well done.

Light Catcher
11-03-2016, 09:17 AM
A very belated welcome to the forum. What an awesome set of images. The detail is excellent and you make it pretty much impossible to pick a favourite from all of these wonderful images. I hope I get to see more. :thumbup:
Thanks for the welcome and for your comments. I really enjoyed your photos on Flickr. Well done!

Tony

Light Catcher
11-03-2016, 09:18 AM
Too many awesome images to pick a favourite. Well done.
I appreciate your comments very much!

Tony

Light Catcher
11-03-2016, 09:27 AM
I hope you'll enjoy this set. Hand-held, no cropping.

Tony

1. Double-crested Cormorant
https://photos.smugmug.com/Other/Canon-SX50-HS/i-7w6KMbR/1/M/IMG_8825-M.jpg
2. Red-tailed Hawk
https://photos.smugmug.com/Other/My-Favorite-Photos/i-QsvxSGt/0/M/IMG_4084-M.jpg
3. Muscovy Duck
https://photos.smugmug.com/Other/My-Favorite-Photos/i-hVrdd7L/0/M/muscovy2016-M.jpg
4. Brown Pelican
https://photos.smugmug.com/Other/My-Favorite-Photos/i-GjN57CJ/0/L/IMG_5287-L.jpg
5. Great Blue Heron
https://photos.smugmug.com/Other/My-Favorite-Photos/i-cm46B4t/0/M/IMG_2744-M.jpg