Harlequin Duck

[Stuart Price]

Hi all, this is a shot of a Harlequin Duck in Hokkaido last December.

I really struggle getting the exposure right on these, either the darks are too dark or the highlights are completely blown. Usually they're on the water which doesn't help I suppose.

Any tips would be appreciated, this was probably the best shot I managed last winter.

Taken with a Canon 7D and 100-400L. 1/1000 sec at F8 and ISO 400. AV mode with Spot metering. This is cropped by about 30% and processed in Lightroom. It looks a bit dark I know.

http://www.hakodatebirding.com/Waterbirds-1/Wildfowl/empty/730542970_WRygh-XL.jpg

[Lance Peters]

Hi Stuart - only option is SOFTER LIGT - the dynamic range of the image is outside what the camera can capture 0 hence you cannot have details in the blacks and hold the whites at the same time.

Not sure about the use of spot metering - IMHO really difficult to use - Use matrix 100% of the time - UNLESS I am shooting landscapes and then I might use spot to enable me to work out what ND filter I need to use.
The whites look on the edge of being over - will be close - no real detail visible.
Good HA and eye contact and quite like the water - some might prefer him swimming towards you rather than away.

Keep em coming :)

[Stuart Price]

Thanks for the reply Lance. What would 'Matrix' be on a Canon? Evaluative perhaps?

I've since changed to 'Centre Weighted Average' as my default...............

[Michael Hogan]

Stuart, Lance has hit it on the head. Taking a photo is recording the reflected light on a sensor or film. If the light is wrong the photo is not great. Digital photography helps us a lot in that we have great tools to 'adjust' the light after the fact. I think you did a great job with this shot. Everything except the pure whites are great and the composition, sharpness etc are great. The light let you down. If you exposed for the whites then the shadow on the back of the head would have been much more pronounced but probably easier to fix in PS. Just keep at it and keep coming back here. I've been active on this site for about a year now and my technique has IMHO improved out of all recognition and hopefully my images. Keep looking here and every day you will see images that take you breath away and you we learn why they are so good.

As Lance said - Keep them coming

TFS

Michael

[Stuart Price]

Thanks for the comment Michael, the Harlequins won't return until November, I'll keep my fingers crossed for good light...........

[Michael Gerald-Yamasaki]

Stuart,

Greetings. The whites on the head are blown (254-255) and the neck whites are partially blown. You might try (if you haven't) the recovery slider in LR (and backing off the brightness if it's above 0). For the high contrast, sometimes it also helps to back off the contrast which will help with the whites/blacks (watch what moving the slider does to the histogram). I think the darks as is are pretty good, but might need adjusting upward as the whites are tackled.

Cheers,

-Michael-

[Alfred Forns]

Hi Stuart Metering wise use the Canon Evaluative metering, will give you the best results. Center weighted was the standard for the old cameras but not much use at all today. These ducks are tough and only good light conditions will do !! Hope you can get them early or hope for overcast skies !!!! Looking forward to the next one !!!

[Dave Mills]

Hi Stuart, We have the opportunity to shoot these duck in NJ during the winter months so I'm famiiar with them. As stated in order to get detail in the facial white area you would need soft light. This will bring out the little detail that is there. Outside of that I feel you handled the image well

[Stuart Price]

Thanks again for your advice, looks like soft light and evaluative metering then.................