The Look of Love...

[Ed Vatza]

or at least loving the hand that feed you on a cold winter day. This Chickadee just looks like he was ready to kiss my wife for bringing some seeds.

Canon 50D; Canon 300 2.8 w/ 2x TC; handheld

1/1000 sec @ f/7.1; ISO 200; +2/3 EV

Can anyone explain the haloing along the top of the hand? It is just there and nowhere else that I can see and is there from the original image. It only get sharper with processing. And I do notice it (same place) on many of the similar images.

[Ed Cordes]

The love really shows through Ed. Great detail.

[Axel Hildebrandt]

This is one happy little bird. I like the winter light and mood, sharpness looks good, too.

[Scott Grant]

Ed, i've seen Tonal Contrast filters produce that artifact you are seeing. It almost looks as if you've applied something similar. i see lots of detail in the feathers. :)

[Ed Vatza]

Ed, i've seen Tonal Contrast filters produce that artifact you are seeing. Did you use any kind of filter?

Interesting question, Scott. The short answer would be no, no filter was used in the field when I made the image. And the artifact is visible out of the camera. I say interesting because I did do some tonal contrasting in Nik Color Efex 2 during post-processing which could be where the artifact became enhanced. Don't know for sure but as I have said it was there out of camera.

ADDENDUM: Scott, I went back into PP and checked things out step by step. The blur on the far side of the hand just popped with the highlight contrast adjustment in the tonal adjustment filter in Nik Color Efex Pro. I backed off on the highlight tones slider and the artifact softened right back to where it was in the original. Thanks for the tip on where to look.

[Scott Frye]

Bird is sharp and I love that perch -- very nice gives me a nice warm feeling -- which is what is supposed to do

[John Chardine]

I agree, the love and trust shows. I had them doing this today at one of my favourite haunts. I've handled 1000s of birds in by career but on my terms so to have them perch on your hand because they want to is a real thrill.

[David Thomasson]

Wonderful capture.

You say the halo is straight out of camera, so I'm assuming you shot jpeg? And assuming that, what were your camera settings? Seems like a sharpening/contrast halo to me.

If you shot raw, then the halo couldn't be straight out of the camera, because there's no image (and hence no halo) until the raw file is interpreted by a converter. In that event, the question is, What were your settings in the raw converter?

[Ed Vatza]

Wonderful capture.

You say the halo is straight out of camera, so I'm assuming you shot jpeg? And assuming that, what were your camera settings? Seems like a sharpening/contrast halo to me.

If you shot raw, then the halo couldn't be straight out of the camera, because there's no image (and hence no halo) until the raw file is interpreted by a converter. In that event, the question is, What were your settings in the raw converter?

Hi David. I probably misspoke when I said the halo was visible SOOC. I do shoot in raw. And I could see what ended up as the halo in the CR2 image. This halo artifact is actually the blurred far side of the hand. In the CR2, it shows as a visible blur but it is clearly the hand. As I said in response to Scott Grant's comment, when I went back through processing, I found that the blur morphed into a halo when I applied tonal contrast in Nik Color Efex 2. When I went back in and backed off on the highlights contrast, the halo disappeared... or at least returned to its original blur.

[David Thomasson]

Hi David. I probably misspoke when I said the halo was visible SOOC. I do shoot in raw. And I could see what ended up as the halo in the CR2 image. This halo artifact is actually the blurred far side of the hand. In the CR2, it shows as a visible blur but it is clearly the hand. As I said in response to Scott Grant's comment, when I went back through processing, I found that the blur morphed into a halo when I applied tonal contrast in Nik Color Efex 2. When I went back in and backed off on the highlights contrast, the halo disappeared... or at least returned to its original blur.

Ahh ... that makes sense. I was puzzled. Thanks for explaining! ;)

[Scott Grant]

When i mentioned filters i should have specified in post. :)

i've seen this happen in many of my images where i've used the Tonal Contrast filter from Nik. to overcome the issue i use the filter selectively (plumage) with control points or the brush tool or as you mention adjust the sliders to taste.

all the best!