Cutouts: A Retrospective

Red-Footed Booby - Sula sula
Leaving Isla Clarion. Our final island visit of this journey. Colima Mexico. Part of the Archipiélago de Revillagigedo.

I’ve been pursuing generating images I call “Cutouts” for several years. Truth be told, I wanted to display them in my galleries as thumbnails for the species albums. I have most of them done, though I still have a few more to generate to complete my set.

I’ve just finished a set I call “Seabirds”. Many of the images from the recent trip to the Revillagigedos were from this group of birds, and most were species I’d never met before. To put a finishing touch on the new galleries, I had to revisit the “Cutout” process. I wrote about this process several years ago on This Page. Since I wrote that piece, I’ve realized that I’m able to see the results in clear detail as to just how good or bad an image really is. I’ve had to settle for marginal results sometimes that barely provide a modest thumbnail, as a close inspection will show the image for all its failings. Occasionally, I’ll encounter an image that achieves such high quality it takes my breath away. The image above is such an image. Most images that look good in a web quality presentation will appears soft when magnified to 200-300%. Maintaining clarity with that kind of magnification makes it special. The Red-Footed Booby pictured above is that kind of image. Images with such fine detail will show nicely when printed on large format papers. 

To view the newly updated “Seabirds” images, click <Here>.