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[Tim Vidrine]

Here's an image I captured at Catahoula NWR in central Louisiana. He was the only duck that showed up in the area I was in. I'm still working on my black/white bird exposures, so any tips would be appreciated.

Canon 40D
Canon 500 + 1.4 tc
1/1250s iso400 f/5.6
Av, eval
No Flash

[Sid Garige]

Tim,

Your exposure looks fine. Back ground is kind of Iffy for me.

[Blake Shadle]

Hey, Tim! You did a good job controlling the whites and keeping detail in the darks. I might be wrong but there seems to be some heavy Shadow/Highlights effects on the image (a little glow around the bird, and the look of the background). I agree with Sid, the background is taking away and not adding to this image.

[Tim Vidrine]

Hey, Tim! You did a good job controlling the whites and keeping detail in the darks. I might be wrong but there seems to be some heavy Shadow/Highlights effects on the image (a little glow around the bird, and the look of the background). I agree with Sid, the background is taking away and not adding to this image.
Blake, I'm not seeing (or don't know what to look for) the S/H effects you are talking about. I'm new to this adjustment and may have overdone it some. The BGs always seem to get me, but this is all I have to work with. I see the beautiful BGs of other posts and am envious.;)

[Blake Shadle]

I'm attaching something to help you identify noticable S/H use.

Backgrounds are sometimes difficult, but always pivitol to making a great image. As the photographer, you make the background. You do this with DOF and your shooting angle. A drastic change in background could only be a few degrees (north, south, east, or west) away ;)

[Tim Vidrine]

Gotcha, thanks. I'll look at the raw file to see if that glow is caused by my adjustment or a reflection.

As far as the DOF, I suppose the issue with this image is that the bird is just too far from me and too close to the brush for f/5.6.