DO YOU EVER CRAVE SOLITUDE?
Do you ever feel like sometimes you just need a bit of alone time? Maybe a few moments to unplug. This little fellow and I seemed to be on the same wave length (yes - I know - pun intended). On the beach one evening, we were both enjoying the company of our own shadows when we crossed paths. We stopped, I took his photo and then we each moved on.
If a bit of solitude is what you seek this weekend, then I hope you find it or it finds you.
TECHIE DETAILS:
I was travelling light that evening, carrying my Sony A7r paired with the nearly as heavy Nikon 85mm 1.4 lens (which is still a lighter combo than my Nikon body with any lens). I was having a tough time learning to love the 85mm lens at first, (earlier post on this here) but lately it has been my go-to. On the Sony I have to dial the aperture manually on the adaptor and as you can probably tell from the shallow depth of field in this case it was wide open (or small f-stop). Nailing the focus (also manual) I still find quite tricky - even with the focus peaking on. The number of keepers is still pretty low but every now and then I get one good enough to get me trying for more.
As for processing - I started out with some minor adjustments in Lightroom - lowered the highlights, upped the shadows, lowered the clarity to get a softer look. Then moved it into Photoshop and used Noiseware and Color Efex Pro. Also ran a blur filter on the ocean and sky to further soften them so they would be less distracting. Finally sharpened up the bird a bit.