Auckland Is Tomtit

[Ian Wilson]

This is sub-species marrineri of the New Zealand Tomtit, Petroica macrocephalus (great-headed). It is a medium-small robin that has diverged from the nominate race following isolation on the remote sub-Antarctic Auckland Is group after sea-level rises at the end of the last Ice-age. The shot was taken on Enderby Is on 2 January 2014 in the middle of the day during a rare period of sunshine. I wish I was smart enough to have used f/11 to get a bit more DoF. I agonized over the cropping and whether to remove the OoF part of the perch in the bottom right. I would appreciate your critique on these and other matters. Thanks for looking.
Canon 5DIII + 300 mm f/2.8L II + 2x III extender, Gitzo 3532LS, Kirkphoto King Cobra gimbal.
Av priority, f/8, 1/1250 sec, ISO 250, EC -2/3 EV.
Processed in DPP: adjust shad/h'lights, USM, RAW-TIFF. PS Elements: adjust levels, brighten iris, selective sharpen OoF parts, crop, downsize TIFF-JPEG, USM.

[Henry Domke]

This is a wonderful bird. I especially like the glowing red feet and the catchlight in the eye. However, as you face the bird the entire left side is too dark. The deep shadows through much of this area shows clipping so that no detail is revealed.

The -⅔ exposure compensation hurt you. The camera was doing a better job at guessing the exposure than you thought.

Brightening the shadows and reducing contrast with software might help, but I think a better solution would be (as Artie Morris says) point your shadow at the bird.
Flash to fill in those shadows would be another consideration.

[Binu John]

Very nice shot! I agree about recovering more details from the dark feathers. I would also try to crop with more room on the left than right.
140524

[Ian Wilson]

Thanks Henry, I see what you mean. I have had another go. Not much to work with in the blacks, just a few DN. I think this repost is a little better but your right about taking the shot from the best angle in the first place. This is never going to be a great image. Thanks for your help and advice. Regards, Ian

[christopher galeski]

nice little bird,Binu repost and crop as improved the image.

[Ian Wilson]

Very nice shot! I agree about recovering more details from the dark feathers. I would also try to crop with more room on the left than right.
140524

Hi Binu, Thanks so much for your help. Your repost has shown me how to resolve the problems in my mind about how to get the most out of this image. I can now go back to the RAW file and work out a plan to process the image to best advantage. Thanks also to Henry for encouraging me to be more aggressive with the recovery of contrast from the blacks.
Regards, Ian

[Ian Wilson]

OK guys, thanks for all your help with this one. This is my last role of the die.

Ian

[Daniel Cadieux]

Way to go in taking the advice and making it work to your advantage!! The IQ on the last repost looks great...still some blocked blacks on the wings but that is mainly due to the harsh light and camera's limited dynamic range in that partucular situation. Some fill-flash would have helped with that.

Still a huge improvement between the OP and last, well done!

[Stu Bowie]

Hi Ian, like the angled HA, and what interesting coloured feet. Great job in your final repost on the blacks - well done.

At this close, I dont believe F/11 would have made much more difference in the DOF. :w3

[Binu John]

The RP is awesome! Excellent PP!

OK guys, thanks for all your help with this one. This is my last role of the die.

Ian

[Arthur Morris]

Great suggestions by Henry and Binu. Pane 7 rocks!

[arash_hazeghi]

good suggestions above, image in pane 7 is an improvement but still a bit dark and blacks don't have much detail

TFS