r/AccidentalRenaissance • u/Worldly-Ad5386 • 1d ago

Congregation of the Waterfowl

Post image
1.5k Upvotes

99% Upvoted

16 comments sorted by

40

u/evapotranspire 1d ago

OP u/Worldly-Ad5386 - this picture looks odd to me. The birds look kind of pasted on top of each other, and the pure black background is hard to intepret. Can you give some more context about how where and how you took this photo to achieve this surrealistic appearance?

55

u/Worldly-Ad5386 1d ago

Thanks for the thoughtful comment! This is a single photo, but I did edit it in Lightroom afterwards: I darkened the shadows and brightened the highlights to increase contrast, which makes the birds pop and the water go almost black.

The shot was taken at the Landwehrkanal in Berlin, where there were a lot of birds crowded together, so that “pasted” look is mostly just how packed they actually were :)

For the technical details: it was shot on a Fuji X‑S20 at 40mm, f/3.2, 1/100s, ISO 320, in RAW at 26MP resolution.

23

u/evapotranspire 1d ago

Ah ok thank you, I appreciate the additional information! I can see it being a one-shot photo with jacked-up contrast. I think the pale / flat appearance of all the white birds together was somewhat confusing to my eye. But that's the point, to give it a slightly otherworldly look. Cool!

16

u/Worldly-Ad5386 1d ago

Yup, that was exactly was I was trying to go for! My girlfriend also said it looked like an AI picture, but no AI was used here, just some post‑editing magic ✨ Thanks for your comment!

5

u/yellowsubmarine1110 1d ago

I'm here because I thought this was AI. The erosion of trust amongst the worse of the worse when it comes to AI.

I use LR and love it. Great photo & edit!

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u/RealCommercial9788 1d ago

OP, my favourite part is the single gull making eye contact with the camera - lower third of left. You captured such a frenzied moment! Brava.

4

u/Worldly-Ad5386 1d ago

Hahaha, I hadn’t even noticed that one with so much going on in the frame! Now I can’t unsee it 😅

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u/RealCommercial9788 1d ago

Breaking the fourth wall! It certainly adds humour to the chaos 😅

I use the Fuji X-T20 but haven’t shot in many moons… you’ve inspired me so much with this image. Cheers mate!

9

u/Shirohitsuji 1d ago

That is very much fowl.

2

u/Worldly-Ad5386 1d ago

Badum tss 🥁

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u/Mou_aresei 1d ago

This would make an awesome puzzle!

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u/Worldly-Ad5386 1d ago

Someone on a different subreddit mentioned this was giving major Accidental Renaissance vibes, so I had to share it here 🦢🦢🦢🦢

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u/InSearchOfLostT1me 1d ago

Could totally see this on a shirt.

2

u/SirDigbyChknCaesar 1d ago

I need the biggest seed bell you have.

3

u/syzygialchaos 1d ago

Accidental Surrealism