Willie Wagtail

[Colin Driscoll]

An Australian flycatcher
1DXII 400mm F/2.8L II & 1.4XIII 560mm 1/2500 f8 iso800 -0.3ev HH
Cropped, S&H, NR on BG in PS CC2019

[Jonathan Ashton]

Something awry here with the processing, the image looks a little bit smeared.

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi Colin, I have to agree with Jon, there is no real detail overall, but also there is a very large halo around the subject and RHS of the perch, plus where has the black line come from along the white of the chest? At ISO800 is there need for any NR based on the lighting?

TFS
Steve

[kevin Hice]

Colin first thing on my monitor is a real strong halo. The whites almost have a silky or pearl resolution.

[John Mack]

The name of this bird made me laugh. Agree with the other comments so far.

[David Roach]

A beautiful bird, perch and BG... Worth another stab at PP... TFS

[Colin Driscoll]

Thanks for the observations. Not sure what has gone wrong here, the problems noted are all in the raw file. I did change some camera settings recently so will go back over them and see where I might have gone wrong.

[Steve Kaluski]

I did change some camera settings recently so will go back over them and see where I might have gone wrong.

Hi Colin, what were the settings you changed in camera as they won't create the haloing? I personally think it stems from sharpening/NR, as it has some characteristics to an image Bob Smith posted. If you can post the changes in camera, plus the Sharpening & NR that would be very helpful.

Cheers
Steve

[Paul Burdett]

Aside from the issues mentioned these Willy Wagtails are perhaps one of the easiest birds to photograph, as I find they they stay put for quite a while. I like the pose, perch and BG, although I'd prefer the head turned a tad towards us. Hope you sort out the issues Colin.

[Colin Driscoll]

Steve, I think you are correct. A bit more scrutiny of the raw image shows it not to be critically sharp- just off but no halo after all. I'll clean my glasses first next time!. Thanks again for all of your comments.

[Steve Kaluski]

I'll clean my glasses first next time!.

LOL Colin. :bg3:

The raw should be 'critically' sharp to start with, if not then it's down to settings/techs or operator error, however I think if you can hone the 'sharpening aspect' within your workflow and avoid cranking stuff up, then your images will be far better and reflect your hard work in achieving the image.

All the best.