Cardinal - High Key

[David Kenny]

I took this one today from the backyard blind. I apologize for another high key snowy background but the stuff just wont go away. So I think I got the background white on this one. I used the white balance medicine dropper in light room and found the 100% in all RGB. Normally I am not a fan of the bird staring directly at the camera but I think it may have worked on this one? The image has been cropped to an 8x10 format. In post I increased contrast a little and decreased saturation. I cloned out an out of focus head of another bird in the bottom left of the original shot which is mostly cropped out here. Please let me know what your feelings are on this one.

Canon 7D with the 100-400mm @ 275mm
Manual Mode
ISO 800
F 6.7
!/250
On tripod

Thanks,
Dave

[Diane Miller]

I'm not really a fan of all-white BGs, but that seems to be what you are given lately. It's a pleasant pose and sharp. The perch is a little dominant -- if it's a setup you might try to vary it.

You don't give your processing except a hint that some things were in PS. Was it a raw capture? If so, what raw processor? The reds here look a little hot. There are ways to tame reds without resorting to lowering saturation, which seems to be especially useful for Canon cameras.

[Tobie Schalkwyk]

Not too fond of the white BG bit it sounds as if it's not your fault. :w3 Other than that, it's perfect.

[Doug West]

I would get rid of what looks like poo behind the bird.

I would also tone down the red a little also on the front
part of the cardinal, everything from about the wings on
back look ok.

I love the high key look...probably cause I'm stuck doing
it also while I wait for this snow to disappear :)

Doug

[kevin Hice]

Thanks Dave for looking at my cardinal.The one thing that sticks out to me is the large size of the perch.If you watch cardinals in a more natural environment they tend to stay low and use small perches,They will get up high or use something like a bell in my yard.At my farm they really use the back ground cover more and stay low as opposed to my yard.

[David Kenny]

This was a raw capture and was processed in LR. The Perch was an old log I had set up higer with a nicer background but the squirrels knocked it down into the snow. I agree about the reds they do seem very hot with the 7D any tips on fixing that would be appreciated (other then lowering the saturation). I have been trying to get a nice cardinal shot but I cant seem to get them higher then 12 inches off the ground. I cant wait for nice green backgrounds again. Thanks for everyones input and advice.

[Doug West]

I just bought a cheap card table. Then I setup my perches on that to give me my horizontal shots.
For vertical, I bought the cheapest christmas tree stand I could find and setup a vertical perch.

Also, for my horizontal perches, if there's a good landing spot, I'll drill a small hole right below
that landing spot and put some feed in there.

Doug

[Randall Farhy]

Agree with Doug (and others) in that the color contrast is a little overpowering here. I like High key and think this would work with a less saturated bird, perhaps even far less saturated depending on taste. Snow is tough, are there any subtle texture details in the raw file that can be brought out by dropping either the contrast or the white values? Sometimes subtle shadows or crystal details can make an image like this one even more appealing. I feel the image is worth working on as it has a nice pose and good detail.

[Randall Farhy]

Topaz Clarity, "De-saturated Grunge" setting, Normal Mode 75% Opacity, removed bird dropping and altered crop slightly.

[Diane Miller]

Lowering the saturation just kills the reds, though. The way to salvage them (both color and detail) starts with the Raw file, and the Camera Calibration tab. Then the HSL panel. Then in PS Selective Color.

I wrote about this several years ago, before I was aware of the Camera Profile issues, and need to update it as a tutorial here.

http://www.adorama.com/alc/0011773/article/How-to-get-vivid-reds-with-good-detail-in-your-digital-photos

[Steve Kaluski]

David, try adjusting the Profile then perhaps the Red, juggling between Curves & saturation based on the OP does pull back a lot more detail within the original. Sadly the RP by Randal looks way off and the blacks look chocked. Having a white BKG with this works, as the red plumage is so strong you do not need other colours to compete. I think the original RAW capture would be OK, you just need a lighter hand with the adjustments to elevate the OP. If you tried to print it it will show the red being too saturated & choked, (Gamut range).

TFS
Steve

[Hazel Grant]

Sometimes you just have to go with what you have (snow) and you did that well here. The white is stark. But then, it's snow. the bird is sharp, though, and that stare from him is good.

[Iain Barker]

I definitely think there is a good image here. Once you have the red fixed it will be really nice. I do find the original very bright but am not familiar with how red these birds are.
Looking forward to the repost.

Iain

[David Kenny]

I opened the raw image in camera raw and under the HSL/ Greyscale adjusted the reds to -18 in saturation and under hue +16. I think I may be able to drop the hue a little more

[David Kenny]

I also cloned out the feces. It looks like there is more detail in the reds in the repost. Please let me know what you think.

[Randall Farhy]

David, the bird looks much better. It appears more natural processed this way. Blacks look good, the reds are better, leaning a little orange which is fine. The adjustments brought out more detail in the chest area which I believe Steve alluded to earlier. The eye color is also well shown, usually they turn out very dark. From here I think it's a matter of adjusting to taste.

[Diane Miller]

Much better, but the reds now look noisy. You said it was a raw capture processed in LR, so before desaturation, why not look at the more subtle alterations under the Camera Calibration tab? The increase the sat and colors -- like contrast, you can increase much better than decrease.

[David Kenny]

Yes it did appear to gain some noise when I sized it for web. I did it in photoshop which I have never done before so i am sure i messed it up. I worked on it a bit more last night with better results. Diane I will take a look at the camera calibration tab when I get home and see how those turn out. I will repost when I think its perfect. Thanks for all your comments and input.

[David Kenny]

Diane I took your advice and went into the camera calibration tab and made some adjustments. I was able to retain all the detail in the feathers around the head that were blown. Those results came out better then the one I attempted in photoshop. Thank you everyone for your input and help. I really learned a lot from this image. Please let me know what you think of the Repost.

- Dave

[Hazel Grant]

Note to Iain....they really are that red, especially against snow.

[Diane Miller]

Good work, David! There is much more detail in the reds now, which is especially visible when I stack the two JPEGs in PS and toggle the top one on and off.

There is some leeway to tweak the color temp in the final version without affecting the detail. The Saturation slider is one I almost never touch.

Hope to see more of your work here!