Love is in the air! Stellers Eider

[gail bisson]

After attending Matthew Studebakers wonderful workshop I stayed an extra day and went out with another participant to explore on our own. We were incredibly fortunate to witness the courtship and mating behavior of these eiders.
Barrow, Alaska June 2014
Canon 1DX, 600mm II and 1.4 x teleconverter. High cloud in the sky with sun peeking out occasionally
ISO 800 F 7.1 SS 1/1600
PP: Crop to 65% FF, sliders in LR :clarity +15, vibrance +15, saturation +5 then to CS5 for NR to BG, lifted the shadows via S & H, levels, DE to eiders at 6% and USM to JPEG
Comments and critiques always appreciated and learned from with thanks.

[Shawn Zierman]

Wowsa! Perfect example of where centering the subject(s) works very well. Is there anything about this image that could be improved?! I think not. I've never even seen an image of this species copulating, so that alone is very cool. The background definition with softness is so nice it hurts my eyes!

[Randy Stout]

Gail:

Nice critique from Shawn. I would consider a little off top and just a sliver off the bottom.

Your extra effort was nicely rewarded.

Cheers

Randy

[Miguel Palaviccini]

Gail, what a capture!

That droplet of water on the female is icing on the cake. I like that you kept the wake on both sides of the birds, but could definitely see a version with some taken off the top and bottom.

Miguel

[William Dickson]

Lovely image Gail. I wished our eiders were as beautiful as that :S3:

[Bill Dix]

Terrific image Gail. Any image of this species would be a thrill for me. Capturing the "action", the water drop, the great environment, all with your usual great techs, put this one over the top. Yes, I could imagine a version with Randy's crop suggestions.

[Daniel Cadieux]

Fantastic behaviour and I love the male's leg embarking on the female's back. Perfect techs and I really like the habitat. I'm OK with the amount at top but would experiment with a bit less below. Great stuff!

[Diane Miller]

Wonderful action well captured. I like the crop as is -- there is a very subtle effect at the top of some lighter grass heads having room to breathe before the top of the frame, and I'd hate to crowd the reflection at the bottom.

I'm curious why you used Shadows/Highlights in PS instead of using the Shadows and Highlights sliders in LR? The Shadows adjustment can bring out noise, but I usually find I can get a good balance by juggling Exposure, Shadows and Highlights, with the advantage of the tonal overhead of the raw file.

[John Cooper]

A great moment well captured Gail. I agree with Randy that a little cropping off the top and bottom would strengthen the composition, but the habitat as is works quite well.

[gail bisson]

Wonderful action well captured. I like the crop as is -- there is a very subtle effect at the top of some lighter grass heads having room to breathe before the top of the frame, and I'd hate to crowd the reflection at the bottom.

I'm curious why you used Shadows/Highlights in PS instead of using the Shadows and Highlights sliders in LR? The Shadows adjustment can bring out noise, but I usually find I can get a good balance by juggling Exposure, Shadows and Highlights, with the advantage of the tonal overhead of the raw file.

Hi Diane,
I like the more precise control the S & H tool gives me in Photoshop. I can select the blacks more precisely and enhance that area only.
Gail

[Diane Miller]

Good point. The Tonal Width and Radius sliders give a different sort of control than you get in LR/ACR. But I'll maximize detail in the darks (and/or lights) as best I can in the raw converter first, so there is more tonal range glued into the file for S/H to work on. Of course, the need varies with different images and cameras.

[Grace Scalzo]

Superb, Gail. Unique behavior and well photographed. I agree with taking from the bottom, not so much because it improves the comp, but because it decreases the overall brightness of the presentation.

[Diane Miller]

An alternative is to darken the bottom with a subtle gradient. That would decrease the overall brightness of the presentation (in the areas needed) and allow the reflection to come to an end instead of being cut off by the edge of the frame.