Stately

[Brian Sump]

194198

Northern Bobwhite Quail - male, taken at Santa Clara Ranch in TX.

I will say in advance that I really struggled with some banding and pixelation in the bkg. I literally tried everything in my power to avoid it but I just think it's the way the graininess was embedded into the raw image. It did not matter which tool I processed noise with nor how I exported, however the 1900 pixel TIF file looks fantastic inside PS. If there are any suggestions, I am all ears.

R5
600mm
Tripod
ISO 1600
1/4000
f7.1

LR and PS. Evicted a bright spec on the ground.

[Andreas Liedmann]

Hi Amigo ... stunning image of this beauty . Does look very cool with all the plumage pattern .
The dark backdrop does help to make it pop ... but caused issues , wondering if this is a R5 issue with dark/ green backgrounds ???!!!
I am not seeing this ( at least that obvious ) with my R3 and 1Dx files ..... maybe it is the way you process your files .
Have you tried , just for fun , DPP ???!!!

Apart from that issue and the slightly clipped blacks , i am more than ok with the image . Love the low POV ..... colors and tones fantastic , and super good clarity .

Great job , Brian and TFS

If you like fire me the file

[Kurt Bowman]

Love the warm light and dark BG Brian! The pose on the toes is great and the colors are rich! Very nicely done!!!

[Arthur Morris]

Sharp with a dramatic BKGR. Having been there, I know that this sounds ridiculous -- lower would have been better as I find the line through the top of the legs distracting.

a

[William Dickson]

Nice one Brian....Perfect POV...Lovely pose and HA...what stands out for me is the detail on the feathers, they look real good...The BG looks ok here on the iMac ...A wee bit posterisation, if you never mentioned it, I don't think I would have noticed as much, so it can't be that bad....When using my R6, I find it easier to eliminate the posterisation/noise using Topaz...As long as the original TIFF looks good that's what counts....

Well done

Will

[Dorian Anderson]

Everything a set-up shot should be: perfectly lit and sharp as ****! The details are fabulous (nearly full frame, I assume?), and the pose is fantastic.

As to the banding you mention, I hardly notice it. Bigger issue (and it's small) is the tricolored BG. You didn't have much option stuck in what I assume is a subterranean blind/hide,
but I'd love to see this without the gray separating the tan and the dirt. That's pretty nit-picky as the subject is as well presented as in any shot I've seen of this shy species. Bravo.

[Brian Sump]

Hi Amigo ... stunning image of this beauty . Does look very cool with all the plumage pattern .
The dark backdrop does help to make it pop ... but caused issues , wondering if this is a R5 issue with dark/ green backgrounds ???!!!
I am not seeing this ( at least that obvious ) with my R3 and 1Dx files ..... maybe it is the way you process your files .
Have you tried , just for fun , DPP ???!!!

Apart from that issue and the slightly clipped blacks , i am more than ok with the image . Love the low POV ..... colors and tones fantastic , and super good clarity .

Great job , Brian and TFS

If you like fire me the file

Andreas, thank you compadre. Your comments are well received.

You may be onto something with the R5/6. I believe you made a comment to Steve one time too IIRC?

You know, I never did try DPP nor did I try straight LR noise reduction, but did try Topaz and Neat Image. I rarely, if ever have noticed it with NI but definitely did this time. I may go ahead and shoot it over to you for a run.



Love the warm light and dark BG Brian! The pose on the toes is great and the colors are rich! Very nicely done!!!

Always thankful Kurt, we had a great time. Hope we get to do it again!


Sharp with a dramatic BKGR. Having been there, I know that this sounds ridiculous -- lower would have been better as I find the line through the top of the legs distracting.

a

Artie, not ridiculous but our lens hoods were essentially resting on the chin of the ground blind openings. Unfortunately if we dipped any lower we would have essentially cut off part of the shot.


Nice one Brian....Perfect POV...Lovely pose and HA...what stands out for me is the detail on the feathers, they look real good...The BG looks ok here on the iMac ...A wee bit posterisation, if you never mentioned it, I don't think I would have noticed as much, so it can't be that bad....When using my R6, I find it easier to eliminate the posterisation/noise using Topaz...As long as the original TIFF looks good that's what counts....

Well done

Will

Will, you da man. Thank you for sharing your thoughts on the plumage as well as the bkg. I know it's pretty subtle but I really massaged this final version to try to minimize it. Just frustrating sometimes, nothing you can do.

BTW, I get pixelation most often with Topaz so I've been using Neat Image on the bkg. This frame was agnostic, however, to either.


Everything a set-up shot should be: perfectly lit and sharp as ****! The details are fabulous (nearly full frame, I assume?), and the pose is fantastic.

As to the banding you mention, I hardly notice it. Bigger issue (and it's small) is the tricolored BG. You didn't have much option stuck in what I assume is a subterranean blind/hide,
but I'd love to see this without the gray separating the tan and the dirt. That's pretty nit-picky as the subject is as well presented as in any shot I've seen of this shy species. Bravo.

Dorian, I hear you man. Your previous comments about working on environment shots are received and appreciated. I've always prided myself on getting natural shots and this trip was the first formal set up location I had ever been to..... it does kind of make it seem unfair, but yeah, you better execute - no excuses!

Regarding the tri color, very valid points. While there was some natural transition, what we are seeing is strong evidence of the banding in that the transitions from the dirt to the gray to green are much more abrupt. That hard line between gray and green is not prominent in the raw.

Glad you enjoy the plumage. I did too on this one :-)