Antarctic Shag

[Norm Dulak]

Nikon D7000 w/Nikkor f/3.5-5.6 28-300mm VR lens @ 300mm, hand held
ISO 800; f/7.1, 1/640 sec; MM -0.33
PP: Topaz DeNoise; PS CS5 levels, curves, crop, smart sharpen

This Antarctic Shag (aka imperial cormorant, king cormorant, imperial shag, blue-eyed shag, Antarctic cormorant) was photographed recently on New Island, the Falklands. I've made a substantial vertical crop from a horizontal file, to emphasize what I think is a remarkable face.

What do you think?

Norm

[Dumay de Boulle]

Crazy looking bird, I don't know this species but im sure the feathers have more fine detail...Looks as though you applied way too much NR over the subject.

[Norm Dulak]

Crazy looking bird, I don't know this species but im sure the feathers have more fine detail...Looks as though you applied way too much NR over the subject.

NR was in fact very modest, and I've checked my files to confirm that. While I would have liked greater feather definition in the more distal parts of the bird, this was as noted a substantial crop. Furthermore, I would like to have stopped down the lens more but would have lost too much shutter speed for hand holding in the less than terrific light. Finally, my focal point was placed squarely on the front of that remarkable face, and I was willing to live with my somewhat limited depth of field to produce the result I wanted.

There are always tradeoffs in the way we capture images, but I did my best here and am personally pleased with the results. :S3:

[PRABIR BHATTACHARYYA]

Really amazing species, captured very well under the circumstances.

[Melissa Groo]

Wonderful portrait, love the colors, the stare down, the comp. What a magnificent bird! TFS.

[Dumay de Boulle]

I am not convinced about the minimal NR, there is even detail lacking in the beak and no gloss of the eyes. There is mild feather detail on the chest in places but none under the chin and upper neck...Its a lovely portrait and lovely colors but I am sticking to my original crit!

[Norm Dulak]

I am not convinced about the minimal NR, there is even detail lacking in the beak and no gloss of the eyes. There is mild feather detail on the chest in places but none under the chin and upper neck...Its a lovely portrait and lovely colors but I am sticking to my original crit!

I have nothing further to add about ND. I've told you what I know to be a fact. With all due respect, you are simply wrong about excessive NR.

But I'm pleased to note that you have found some desirable attributes of my image after all. :S3:

[Charles Mills]

I find myself in agreement with both Melissa regarding the colors and composition and with Dumay regarding the peculiar lack of fine detail. What I find interesting is that there is some crispness towards the basal end of the upper mandible, the yellow and orange bits in the eye area, the rim of the feathers along the back of the head and the tips of the bird's spiky crest while the rest of the iridescent head and back looks kinda' like it was shot through some sort of diffusion filter. I can't recall offhand whether or not reposts are allowed but I'd be interested in seeing the image processed just like the initial version with the exception of no sharpening or noise reduction.

[Charles Mills]

Another question just popped into my head. Was the original digital file captured in NEF/Raw or jpeg format?

[gail bisson]

WOW! I love the colors of this bird! I have never seen one so am really enjoying seeing this pic.
Gail

[Kaustubh Deshpande]

Norm, what a bird. I like the head-on angle, colors, exposure. The shooting angle has nicely emphasized the crest.

You might have done small amount of Luminance NR...but even that can kill the sharp details. You can process it again without any NR and then do NR only on the BG in post.

[Daniel Cadieux]

Neat bird!! I like the pose and good job with the exposure. RE: NR issue...I never use any on the subject itself, only the background if needed. Judging from the fine detail on the throat (near the tip of the bill) I am convinced there is lots more to see on the wonderful face and crown...even if it is a substantial crop to begin with. We all agree this is a nice image, we're just trying to help you get the best out of it:S3:

Man, this species has so many nicknames!!

[Norm Dulak]

In view of the comments by Dumay, Kaustubh and Daniel regarding applying NR only to the background, I decided to revisit my RAW file and work up the image again in that way. The result, which I think is better, is shown here.
Many thanks for this valuable suggestion, which I will follow in the future!!! :S3:

Norm

[Daniel Cadieux]

Even with the noise in the feathers this is much better, thanks for reposting Norm!! BTW, I prefer the brighter exposure on the original post though.

Looks like you had a good trip...hope to see more of these exotic beauties you and Linda photographed...

[Charles Mills]

Yes, I agree. This is much better indeed.

[Wynand van Wyk]

I agree as well, it looks much better without the NR on the subject. Great exposure on the bird here and like the look of him as well.

Well done!:S3:

[Norm Dulak]

This is my first experience where overall, controlled NR was not useful because my subject had an almost zero tolerance for any NR. The way I applied Topaz DeNoise NR only to the background in my repost was as follows:

I copied my background layer in PS CS5,
used a Wacom pad to employ the lasso tool to select my bird on the copied layer,
used Refine Edge to perfect my selection,
moved my selection to a new layer above the two background layers using Refine Edge, and
cautiously applied NR to my background layer copy.

But would someone please tell me, is there a better (i.e., simpler) way to isolate a complex subject from its background using PS CS5, so that NR can be applied only to the background?

Norm

[arash_hazeghi]

nice perspective, the image in pane 13 is a photograph while the image in pane 1 looks like a watercolor painting due to excessive NR. I find filters like topaz pretty much useless for bird photography as they cannot distinguish between noise and feather details....the Nikon Capture NX2 does a MUCH better job

[Daniel Cadieux]

But would someone please tell me, is there a better (i.e., simpler) way to isolate a complex subject from its background using PS CS5, so that NR can be applied only to the background?
Norm

Norm, there are a number of ways to do it, but here is mine.

I start with a "complete" post-processed image with no NR or sharpening. All I do is open the image, apply NR (if needed) to the complete image, then paint the NR away from the subject and perch using the History Brush at 100%. Then sharpen the complete image, including the area I just NR'd.

BTW I use the Noise Ninja PS plug-in, default settings used + an additional 2 points (for a total of 12) on the "strenght" slider. With this I can sharpen the NR'd areas without undoing its effect.

There are maybe some better methods, but I find this quick and the results good in my experience and should work with any NR plug-in.

[Kaustubh Deshpande]

Norm, I used to do the selection-refine edge workflow and still do...but only for subjects that are easy to select.

Otherwise, masking is a much faster option. Create duplicate layer and apply the NR you want on the BG. The whole image will look like it had NR. Then apply the mask over the bird so you reveal the non-NRed bird. By varying the brush size, you can select large areas and smaller ones. On youtube, you will find good videos on how to do the layer masks. I think Glen (Bartley) had one video tutorial on his website/blog.

I use this method for both NR and sharpening.

[Norm Dulak]

nice perspective, the image in pane 13 is a photograph while the image in pane 1 looks like a watercolor painting due to excessive NR. I find filters like topaz pretty much useless for bird photography as they cannot distinguish between noise and feather details....the Nikon Capture NX2 does a MUCH better job

Thanks for the tip, Arash. I've ordered the software and will work with it to see how it does. It will also be useful for applying Nikon's D-lighting to NEF files.

[Norm Dulak]

Norm, I used to do the selection-refine edge workflow and still do...but only for subjects that are easy to select.

Otherwise, masking is a much faster option. Create duplicate layer and apply the NR you want on the BG. The whole image will look like it had NR. Then apply the mask over the bird so you reveal the non-NRed bird. By varying the brush size, you can select large areas and smaller ones. On youtube, you will find good videos on how to do the layer masks. I think Glen (Bartley) had one video tutorial on his website/blog.

I use this method for both NR and sharpening.

Thanks Kaustubh. I will try that, and look for Glen's tutorial.