Sunrise on Pond Apple...

[David Roach]

EOS R EF400 DO I 1.4xtc II f8 1/800 ISO 2000

[Randy Stout]

David :

Interesting head piece, might want to clean that one up.

Nice colors, soft light, head angle. Look back poses like this can be a challenge because of DOF. F/8 helped some.

Cheers

Randy

[Aditya Sridhar]

This is a very nice shot, David. Sweet light and nice HA. More DOF would've been helpful, but looking at your settings, I suppose you didn't have much light to work with. I do think this image needs more contrast. Adding some Blacks as well as Neutrals using Selective Coloring would certainly go some way in giving the image some much-needed punch - as is, I find it slightly flat. I'd also desaturate the blues on the leaves. TFS

[David Roach]

David :

Interesting head piece, might want to clean that one up.

Nice colors, soft light, head angle. Look back poses like this can be a challenge because of DOF. F/8 helped some.

Cheers

Randy

Hi Randy, This is a fledgling and that is the last of the "funky chick feathers" early in their development. Don't know what they are called but that is very much a part of the story of this image. Thanks as always for valued inputs.

[Paul Burdett]

Hi David. I like this one very much. It does have a somewhat "pastel" look to it (like a painting..which I quite like), but I agree with Aditya on the contrast suggestion. I'm fine with the "head piece"...adds a little character.

[David Roach]

Hi Paul and Aditya, Thanks so much for your valued comments. As Aditya pointed out, this image was created just as the sun came onto the horizon, filtered by the atmosphere and a light morning fog between us (bird and I) and the sun. It was relatively dark. I did move the histogram all the way to the right(ah mirrorless) before beginning the sequence. The chick(a very recent fledgling) was looking slightly away. The third shutter click in this short sequence got the parallel to the sensor look with focus point on the eye/lores. As I started to pull the overall brightness slider in DPP to the left, I stopped when the dark parts of BG became a distraction(and backed off just a little). In PS I chose just the BG and reduced the contrast and yellow/greens saturation. I then chose the bird only and added 15 points vibrance and 3 saturation. I then added my usual DO (the original DO is not as contrasty as it should be) contrast curve and 3 points of black to the neutrals. Loved the look on the head, neck and shoulder shadows. AS both of you noted, from the shoulders to the tail the focus(and contrast) were falling off. So I tried an additional boost on that area and it ruined the pastel/water color feel. I decided I loved the focus falloff from front to back , the light falloff from left to right and the "pastel" look as is. I am not of the current school of always getting the entire subject in perfect focus (you can blame Artie for that). The f8 was because this old glass combo really needs one full stop to get tack sharp images. I was relatively close and knew it would not get the entire bird. Once again thanks so much for your valued inputs. Keep them coming, please.

[John Mack]

That is some sweet light. The pose is nice. Also like the leafy perch. Great background. The bird is sharp where it counts.

[gail bisson]

I think this is your best imge that you have posted on BPN!
The light is killer!
Great lookback pose (my favorite).
I would add a bit of blacks to the neutrals in selective coloring in PS CC.
I just wish you had not clipped the toenail- do you have more room at the bottom for the foot?
Gail