December 14, 2020
From Lavas To Wagtails
Originally published May 27, 2011
natural color image (left) and color enhancement (right) processing by Henrik Bondo, Denmark
Inspired by yesterday's LPOD that we should get medical researchers to figure out how to enhance our color vision,
although ordinary Earth scenes might be unbearably garish… I tried the same technique, as I have done earlier with
the Moon to enhance colors (in PhotoShop: Saturation 25%, repeated five times). These photos taken out of our window towards the little pond shows a wagtail, who uses a large part of each day to hunt for delicious insects living at
the pond. The feathers of the wagtail are really black-grey-white in striking contrasts (left photo). The right photo - the
result of forefront medical research - shows simply the colors of greedy hunger. One can clearly see how the greed in
the eyes of the wagtail, looking for more food, transforms the surroundings to a vibrating, intensely colored landscape,
and how the greed even gives a fine reddish hue to specific hunting-relevant areas of this otherwise absolutely black
and white wagtail: The outer part of the wings and upper lip.
Henrik Bondo
Note from Chuck: This is a lovely experiment that demonstrates how supersaturation can bring out color variations too
subtle to be seen otherwise. I wonder if wagtails or other animals in their environment can detect the reddish hue, and
if it has a significance?
Related Links
Henrik's observatory
Yesterday's LPOD: Colorful Lavas
Tomorrow's LPOD: Changing Color
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