W/ or W/out birds? (IR)

JCJC Registered Users Posts: 768 Major grins
edited February 13, 2015 in Landscapes
~700 nm false color infrared. Slightly different views, but anyone have a strong feeling for with or without birds? I have a very strong preference, curious to see if others feel the same. Any other C&C appreciated as well.

(pixelation is not there in the originals, birds are small, but obviously birds)

1)
i-922whSw-L.jpg

2)
i-dwz8FqV-L.jpg

These were just after dawn, valley was allready filling up with haze, mts in the distance are hardly seen in my standard color images.
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Comments

  • ThelensspotThelensspot Registered Users Posts: 2,041 Major grins
    edited February 10, 2015
    Definitely WITH the birds for me. Your shots create a surreal world which lies dormant in #1.
    In #2 there is life with the birds telling me "We live in our world. You live in yours."
    I like the effect.

    Also for me in #1 the sky looks a little monotonous.
    "Photography is partly art and partly science. Really good photography adds discipline, sacrifice and a never ending pursuit of photographic excellence"...ziggy53

  • StumblebumStumblebum Registered Users Posts: 8,480 Major grins
    edited February 10, 2015
    Birds.
    They become the stars!
    Love the color and scene!
    Maybe best of yours that I have seen yet!
  • David_S85David_S85 Administrators Posts: 13,245 moderator
    edited February 10, 2015
    Birds. Very eerie image - which is good, BTW.
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    "You miss 100% of the shots you don't take" - Wayne Gretzky
  • kdogkdog Administrators Posts: 11,681 moderator
    edited February 10, 2015
    Absolutely with the birds. nod.gif Really special shot, JC. thumb.gif
    Moderator of Landscapes forum
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  • denisegoldbergdenisegoldberg Administrators Posts: 14,372 moderator
    edited February 10, 2015
    definitely with the birds, truly wonderful!

    --- Denise
    https://www.denisegoldberg.com ... https://denise.smugmug.com

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  • CornflakeCornflake Registered Users Posts: 3,346 Major grins
    edited February 10, 2015
    I love both versions. My reaction before I read any comments was that the answer depends on what you want the shot to be about. If I were going to order a print of one, though, I'd get the birdier one.

    And yes, infrared cuts through atmospheric gunk, a fact I discovered by accident
    Don
    Gallery: http://cornflakeaz.smugmug.com/
  • David_S85David_S85 Administrators Posts: 13,245 moderator
    edited February 10, 2015
    Love it. New term = "birdier" :D
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    "You miss 100% of the shots you don't take" - Wayne Gretzky
  • CornflakeCornflake Registered Users Posts: 3,346 Major grins
    edited February 10, 2015
    PS: I like black and white infrared very much, but I'd almost never seen any with color that I liked. Now I have.
    Don
    Gallery: http://cornflakeaz.smugmug.com/
  • lifeinfocuslifeinfocus Registered Users Posts: 1,461 Major grins
    edited February 10, 2015
    Like #2 more. #1 without the birds in the air would be cool too.

    How is this done - the infrared part that is?

    Phil
    http://www.PhilsImaging.com
    "You don't take a photograph, you make it." ~Ansel Adams
    Phil
  • JCJC Registered Users Posts: 768 Major grins
    edited February 10, 2015
    Thanks all, the 'birdier' one is my favorite too. Lets hope the International Association of Volcanology and Chemistry of the Earth's Interior agrees (my guy's on a mission with his 'pet' volcanoes).
    lifeinfocus wrote: »
    Like #2 more. #1 without the birds in the air would be cool too.

    How is this done - the infrared part that is?

    Phil

    Well, for commercial cameras, it's easier to just put an infrared blocking filter in front of a sensor than it is to design a sensor that sees red light, but not near infrared.

    I sent a refurbishes OM-D E-m5 mirrorless camera in to have the UV-IR "cut" (blocking) filter removed, making my camera a full spectrum camera. Then I put a filter on the lens that blocks the unwanted part of the spectra. The filter on this picture transmits a minor amount of blue and green light, but 88% of the transmission is in the mid-red and near infrared (reflected infrared, not the emitted thermal). The raw files are thus heavily biased towards the red, but in post you can switch the red and blue channels to make scenes look a bit more natural or pleasing. I think this works best in scenes with lots of sky and water, as in this case. If I have a lot of structures or plants, I prefer a straight black and white image using a filter that only transmits in the near infrared, without any transmission in the RGB spectra.
    Yeah, if you recognize the avatar, new user name.
  • bristleconebristlecone Registered Users Posts: 451 Major grins
    edited February 11, 2015
    These are wonderful images JC. With birds for sure. Truly unique.... the color, the light, the feeling.
    Bravo!

    -Leonard
    http://lamiller.smugmug.com
  • PrevailingConditionsPrevailingConditions Registered Users Posts: 178 Major grins
    edited February 11, 2015
    I'm going to the birds as well, but I suspect that's because you've shown both images. I agree with Cornflake though, what were you trying to get across? The first one is more about the scene and environment while the second is about the birds.

    Mike
    flickr
    I welcome your feedback, but leave the editing to me - thanks!
  • StumblebumStumblebum Registered Users Posts: 8,480 Major grins
    edited February 11, 2015
    I guess it can be what you want it to be....
    If you want it to be Cindy Crawford....go with the birds...
    If you want it to be Rosie O' Donnel.....then no birds.
    Cheers!
  • hstrynrdhstrynrd Registered Users Posts: 122 Major grins
    edited February 11, 2015
    With the birds is fantastic!
  • JCJC Registered Users Posts: 768 Major grins
    edited February 12, 2015
    Thanks again to everyone that commented. I appreciate it.
    PrevailingConditions wrote: »
    I'm going to the birds as well, but I suspect that's because you've shown both images. I agree with Cornflake though, what were you trying to get across? The first one is more about the scene and environment while the second is about the birds.

    Mike

    I'm trying to make the scene look as dramatic as possible. I love it with the birds, I was just worried that other people might find them more of a distraction. This is the Salton Sea, if people know it and or haven't figured that out yet, and it's pretty irrevocably linked with birds (being one of the last major stops left on the 'pacific' flyway, so they are part of the scene, so to speak.
    Yeah, if you recognize the avatar, new user name.
  • BenA2BenA2 Registered Users Posts: 364 Major grins
    edited February 12, 2015
    Love the birds
    It's been a long time since I've commented on an image on Dgrin. But, that birds image just sucked me in. I love it because I didn't even know what I was looking at at first and once I figured it out, I was amazed. I feel like I could stare at a large print of this for a long time.

    Beautiful.
    Ben

         www.ackersphotography.com
  • Tom FosterTom Foster Registered Users Posts: 291 Major grins
    edited February 13, 2015
    As I think has unanimously been said before, I would go with the birds one too! Nice images but the bird one does it much more for me!
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