perch

[arash_hazeghi]

This chicks are really loud when they want food, poor mom had to feed them then rest on a post before they start screaming again! I got the contact but unfortunately the perch is not very good and there was nothing I could do, do you think it would be possible to replace this perch in Photoshop:D

http://www.stanford.edu/~ahazeghi/Photos/birds/tern%20feeding%20chick.jpg

tech is 50D+400 f/5.6, 1/1600 f/7.1 ISO 400 sw: Canon DPP3.6.1

[Jeff Cashdollar]

Regarding the peach anything is possible, lets look at the subjects first if you don't mind. Both eyes could be brighter, cleaner and sharper. What was your distance to subject. With the 400 and your corp factor you need to be within 15/18 feet to get at least 20% image size. Image looks a tad soft too, was this a large crop as well. (maybe needs more sharpening)

Regarding the perch replacement, IMO it would be very time consuming but let's see what others say. Overall nice photo of a neat moment in nature, mother and child - well done.

[Lance Peters]

Hi - Agree with Jeffs points above - like the action.

A lower shooting angle might have helped your perch issue, if you had got as low as you could on the same level as the birds you could have minimized the perch to a great extent - anything is possible in photoshop however going done this route would then make it a Digital Creation - have nothing against doing this as long as it is disclosed.
Personally though I strive to get as much right in camera as possible.
Keep them coming :)

[arash_hazeghi]

Thanks Jeff and Lance, this is almost full frame so no crop, strangely it looks pretty sharp on my monitor since it is 15 mpixels reduced to such a small size and I have already applied USM, but as you say may not be worth more creativity, unfortunately it as not possible to shoot from a different angle/position.

[Harold Davis]

arash, after reading your follow-up post, if i understand correctly you did not apply any sharpening after downsizing to a jpeg? i normally apply a small amount of sharpening after the downsize. in bird pics you have to. anything with detail needs it. in photoshop, smart sharpening settings are 95, 3-9, 0. try that and see what you think.

as far as the image goes, agree with the others. a lower capture angle might have worked better. anything you can do to minimize the perch, if it's not that good, is the way to go. love the action. nice moment captured. i might tone down the whites a little too.

[Gus Cobos]

Hi Arash,
I like the captured action here...the first thing that pops out for me is the steep capture angle, would have liked it to be much lower...I agree with the good advise given by Mr. Cashdollar and Mr. Peters...looking forward to your next one...:cool:

[arash_hazeghi]

arash, after reading your follow-up post, if i understand correctly you did not apply any sharpening after downsizing to a jpeg? i normally apply a small amount of sharpening after the downsize. in bird pics you have to. anything with detail needs it. in photoshop, smart sharpening settings are 95, 3-9, 0. try that and see what you think.

as far as the image goes, agree with the others. a lower capture angle might have worked better. anything you can do to minimize the perch, if it's not that good, is the way to go. love the action. nice moment captured. i might tone down the whites a little too.

Thanks Harold, I did apply sharpening, these birds are actually on a platform on water so I could not change position, maybe I'll have better luck next time, thanks!

[wendell westfall]

Hi Arash:
I love this photo! I would like to see it cropped a bit from the top and also cropped from the bottom, up to a point halfway on the curb-like thing they are standing on. And it would be a bit nicer sharper. I would like to have a behavioral image like this in my collection . . .

[Alfred Forns]

Great comments !!! Like the image a lot and would just minimize the perch !!! Those whites are hard to reproduce and have shadow detail .. you did well !!!!

[Bob Miller]

Hi Arash....I love the moment you captured here. I would suggest you crop much off the bottom and then darken the remaining perch. The sharpness overall to me looks fine. i would also agree that the eye might need to be lightened and sharpened some. A very nice image!