Am. Avocet in golden light [Archive] - BirdPhotographers.net

Kaustubh Deshpande

02-24-2012, 02:10 PM

I havent done any photography for three weeks. I was going through some old files and found this one that I dont think I have posted before. from last year's trip to Palo Alto Baylands in California.

40D. 400 f5.6L at f/6.3. iso 320. 1/2500s. manual metering.

All comments welcome.

Randy Stout

02-24-2012, 02:23 PM

Kaustubh:

Really nice, sharp, well exposed, great low shooting angle, open bill, clean BG, like the slightly darker band at top.

Cheers

Randy

Ofer Levy

02-24-2012, 02:42 PM

Light and colours are lovely! I like how you use sharpening very gently!

Kaustubh Deshpande

02-24-2012, 02:48 PM

Ofer, I like DPP's sharpening for raw files. which i usually keep at 4 or even 5 at times. then on resized jpg, I create a layer, use usm of 85, 0.3, 0 or 1 threshold. then mask away everything other than the bird..and also the edges to prevent halo. at times I do extra selective sharpening of some areas to compensate for shallow DOF...it was not needed here.

Kaustubh Deshpande

02-24-2012, 02:54 PM

one thing i forgot to mention..which is important...if some areas on bird look oversharpened( like lines in wings etc.) i mask them out.

Grace Scalzo

02-24-2012, 03:24 PM

Beautiful image, I like how he's concentrating on this meal. Lovely light as well.

Marina Scarr

02-24-2012, 04:11 PM

After seeing this capture I am not sure there is any point in processing my Avocet Images from this past week. Mine will surely pale in comparison. You had gorgeous light. I love the colors of the avocet and the open bill.

Thank you for sharing your sharpening Technique. It is obviously very effective. I am just not sure that I would have the patience to do this much work as far sharpening on each image.

Kaustubh Deshpande

02-24-2012, 04:25 PM

Marina, for sharpening, I used to select the bird and do the feathering thing to exclude edges...that used to take a lot of time time. especially, if you want different sharpening for different areas of the bird....or if the bird has dense feather details.

With layer masks, its very quick. e.g. if the lines in wings look oversharpened, then just use small brush to mask that portion. if bright areas look like they ae getting too hot after usm, just choose right size of brush and mask that away.

jack williamson

02-24-2012, 05:39 PM

Nice light, great exposure, comp. F6.3 was perfect for this.

Jack

Brendan Dozier

02-24-2012, 06:48 PM

Nicely captured and composed, Kaustubh. Like the pose, light, color and subtle light reflections bouncing off bird. Nice work! The only thing I wish is that darkest ripple around the legs wasn't so dark, but that's minor, and nothing you can really do about that.

dankearl

02-24-2012, 07:33 PM

Really well done, I think it could go a tad darker, which I think would make it pop even more.
You always get terrific angles, are you in the water?

Daniel Cadieux

02-24-2012, 07:36 PM

Beautiful!! The orange face works wonderfully with the pale blue water. If anything I wouldn't mind more space below the reflection, but top notch stuff!

gail bisson

02-24-2012, 07:39 PM

Great low POV. Very nice light as well. I like the partially open beak,
gail

Stu Bowie

02-25-2012, 12:26 AM

Hi KD, another image captured at your usual low angle, and with a good feeding pose. The light looks soft, colours spot on, and just love the water BG.

arash_hazeghi

02-25-2012, 01:16 AM

nice low angle and details, light was great!

Geir Jensen

02-25-2012, 04:13 AM

A beautiful picture. Wonderful light. Lovely BG. Maybe a little more space at the bottom of the image. Very well done.:bg3:

Vivaldo Damilano

02-25-2012, 11:04 AM

Just love the soft light and IQ. Great low angle and reflection. Nicely done Kaustubh.

Frank Schauf

02-26-2012, 08:41 AM

What a reflection, and nice colors in the water!

Robert Holguin

02-26-2012, 08:39 PM

Beautiful shot. Really great pose, love the light, excellent details, and well composed.Well done.