Razor Fawn

[Don Hamilton Jr.]

Good morning Gang. I could use some help here. I need to add some canvas top and bottom, as i have plenty of room Rt to Lt. I purchased the Kelby CS4 book, however i've spent two hrs, unsuccessfully trying to add canvas. Could someone walk me thru this, or direct me to a tutorial. I'll also post over in the workflow section.. unless you feel the photo is Trash?
Thks don
Camera Model Canon EOS 7D
Firmware Firmware Version 1.1.0
Shooting Date/Time 6/26/2010 7:00:19 PM
Author DON_HAMILTON_JR.flyinghamiltons@comcast.net
Copyright Notice 2010
Owner's Name
Shooting Mode Manual Exposure
Tv( Shutter Speed ) 1/60
Av( Aperture Value ) 5.6
Metering Mode Evaluative Metering
ISO Speed 1000
Auto ISO Speed OFF
Lens EF500mm f/4L IS USM +1.4x
Focal Length 700.0mm
Image Size 5184x3456
Image Quality RAW
Flash Off

[Axel Hildebrandt]

Cool pose, setting and soft light. The highlights on the tail are a bit overexposed, should be easy to fix. There is a thread in the tutorial forum on how to extend the canvas. First go to 'canvas size' and add as much as you want on both sides. Are you planning on making it a vertical? Then use the rectangular tool mark the area close to the new white space and then use 'content aware scale'. Something like this maybe. I removed your signature to make it easier to extend the canvas. The color space is sRGB now, hence the color difference.

[Jamie Douglas]

Hi Don

I use this technique and should still be applicable for CS4 http://www.richardpeters.co.uk/blog/2009/07/24/easy-canvas-extension/

Lovely image by the way. Colours compliment each other very well.

[Don Hamilton Jr.]

Thks so much, that was great to hear back , so quickly! Big Props to all of ya! Whoops looks like i need another round of noise reduction.. se next post!
Cheers:
Don

[Don Hamilton Jr.]

Redo, and noise reduction
Don

[Axel Hildebrandt]

the repost looks good, maybe a bit more NR in the area at the top that you extended.

[Don Hamilton Jr.]

Thks will do... might i ask what noise reduction you use, i've been using nik define... i've seen noise pro rec'd before as well!

[Axel Hildebrandt]

Thks will do... might i ask what noise reduction you use, i've been using nik define... i've seen noise pro rec'd before as well!

I normally just use the NR tool in Photoshop.

[Stu Bowie]

Cute little guy, and I like the spring in his step. The repost with the added canvas works well.

[Don Hamilton Jr.]

Thks Stuart! They are so innocent, and care free!
Don

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi Don, Axel's image looks more faithful colourwise, although looking at it on the laptop so can't really be to critical, however your versions does look very saturated. The shutter speed is just to low to get a clean, sharp image even at ISO1000, based on your EXIF data. As a rule, you need to have your shutter speed the same or above your lens ie 1/500 for a 500f/4 lens as a base. You also need to have the focus point on the eye as that is your key area. If you had the eye & head sharp, the raised, blurred leg would have worked well. Comp wise I like the post in 4. Think about using a good tripod or bean bag whilst shooting from a car, just help steady your kit.

TFS
Steve

[Don Hamilton Jr.]

Thks steve, yes i think i discovered that i didn't flatten the layers on the repost. Also i color corrected, what should one do when you do that, and the image appears to go to far. Do you simply just tweak the curves manually??
Also thks for the shutter speed advice, very good point, however we ran out of light, and had no choice i was already at iso 1000, perhaps 1250.. but i decided it was a crap shoot so fire away, and hold as steady as possible!
Cheers, and thanks for the help!
Don

[Steve Kaluski]

Don, if you 'Saved for Web' before posting it should automatically flatten your file, irrespective flattening your file will not change any colours. Depending on how far you want to take things and budget, get your screen calibrated, this is the best way to get your images looking right. With a new monitor this needs too be done every two weeks, then once a month. Curves doesn't really effect the saturation of an image. Also, how have you set your camera up? Are you shooting in RGB, or sRGB. Are you shooting RAW, or JPEG, as RAW will give you the best results, but will take more time to get your image right.

Finally, when light is low, likewise shutter speed, just put your camera down and watch your subject. You will enjoy it more, learn more and save time with your camera for when the conditions are better, as having 'noisey' blurred images is not ideal and doesn't really achieve much. Keep practicing and enjoy it.

Steve