White-faced Heron

[Paul Davey]

White-faced Heron (Ardea novahollandiae), photographed in Otago Harbour, New Zealand. This tame bird allowed a close approach. I was able to lie down to achieve an eye-level statement.

With even me succumbing to digital editing, I am not sure where to start. So I will attach a "before and after" mock up in this thread by subsequently posting the original unaltered image next. Appreciate tips on using brightness/contrast/saturation to effect on any image. I tried out levels and curves but am absolutely nonplussed as to what their purpose is and how to use them accordingly.

On this particular image I have cropped from the bottom, adjusted brightness, contrast and saturation. Edited using the GIMP.

Fujifilm Finepix S5600
1/1000 sec, f/5.6, ISO 200, 10x optical zoom at 380mm

Many thanks,

Paul

[Paul Davey]

Here is the original image, without cropping or other editing. Er...must have accidentally done something with GIMP to make that black dot appear.

[Nonda Surratt]

What a neat image! Love the white on the herons face, how unusual and nice, and I like the rocks too,nice pose as well.
I might be tempted to crop a bit off the top to get rid of the different color and the tilt, about an inch down or less from the photo as presented here.

One thing that rather puzzles me is, flipping back and forth between the original and the processed image, it seems there is a slight loss of detail?

[Alfred Forns]

Hi Paul glad you are trying basic enhancements !!!! Posting size is perfect !!!!

I like your in camera framing would only take a tad of the top as suggested by Nonda I'm also wondering how was detail lost from original

For basic processing the normal work flow would be: Crop Noise reduction levels curves then local enhancements

We all use the brightness slider when we start but soon abandom Try levels First hold the Option Key (Alt in Win) and drag the right slider in the levels box to the left At first the image will be all dark As you move the slider some white will appear At time time back off a bit and do the same for the black (left slider) Then you can move the middle to adjust to taste

That move set your white and black points Remember in some images you do not want this procedure ex some back lit Special effects etc For most will work just fine

Curves will be similar and you want tiny adjustments May use the eyedropper tool place over the area you want to change and click The corresponding point in the curve will be shown Go to that area of curve and click The with up/down keys move a little and see the effect

Paul the fastest way to shorten the learning curve is with Arties digital basics It takes you step by step through the process After you follow a few it will be second nature

[Paul Davey]

Hi Nonda and Alfred

Loss of detail? I guess its the editing which has taken place on the first photograph, making it degrade rather quickly being JPG. Thanks for the kind words on the bird. Thanks Al for the quick rundown on levels/curves. Although are your instructions a referral to PhotoShop? Digital Basics looks excellent but doubled with getting BPN membership and actually getting a good copy of PhotoShop beforehand the File will have to wait. I will follow up the cropping suggestions mentioned here.

Paul

[Paul Davey]

I performed the crop as Nonda pointed out, about an inch down. Looks a bit better I guess. Although this isn't one of my best photographs: the eye doesn't have enough light to have an effect. It was also taken around midday which may account for the eye problem. But then again, it's one of my photographs from earlier in my photography days.

Paul

[Alfred Forns]

Paul I like this crop a lot The bird has space but no wasted negative space Its good !!! btw if you shoot in jpeg when opening an image make sure and save in tiff Then is you need to post you can save a jpeg

TIFF files you can save over and over with no quality loss at all Jpeg does degrade with each save Open a jpeg and save open and save several times You will see the difference

[Paul Davey]

Hi Alfred

Thanks for the comments. I presume TIFF is what most RAW shooters convert their images into?

Paul

[Nonda Surratt]

I also like the crop and thanks for trying it.

[Ian McHenry]

Hi Paul I'll leave the experts to comment on editing technique.
Just one quick tip: It's good to ask yourself when editing, is the colour of the main subject and foreground/background as I remember it.
So easy to add too much saturation or contrast.
This said last edit looks good.
Ian McHenry