Pied Portrait [Archive] - BirdPhotographers.net

Stu Bowie

03-06-2012, 10:47 PM

OK, another Kingfisher image from me, and unfortunately without a fish in his beak. This Pied was fairly close, so my objective was to create a close up portrait shot. For a little while now, Ive been playing around with detail extractor in Efex 4, but havent got around to applying it to an image for posting. This is my first attempt, and Im pretty happy with the results. Taken in the Pilanesberg National park.

Canon 50D
100-400 @ 275mm
1/1000
F/7.1
ISO 640

Exp comp 0
hand held

Frank Schauf

03-07-2012, 02:26 AM

Beautiful portrait, great details, a great shot.

Jonathan Ashton

03-07-2012, 03:59 AM

Stu, you really have some excellent detail there, how does this compare to an image processed in your normal workflow?

ramesh anantharaman

03-07-2012, 06:45 AM

Firstly How did you get so close to this fellow. they are so skittish in my part of the world!!!! This is beautiful with great deatils. EFEX has worked well IMHO

Randy Stout

03-07-2012, 07:55 AM

Stuart:

Good detail, and subtle use of the detail extractor. It is easy to get carried away with it and start to look unnatural.

Like the little feather on the bill, sky in eye.

I could see a version just a bit brighter, perhaps 1/4 stop.

Cheers

Randy

Stu Bowie

03-07-2012, 08:34 AM

how does this compare to an image processed in your normal workflow?

Thanks Jon. I would like to reprocess this image without detail extractor and compare the results. I processed this as per my normal workflow, and just added detail extractor during my workflow.

Thanks everyone else for the feedback and comments.

Marina Scarr

03-07-2012, 09:21 AM

Very nice details here. Agree with Randy on trying this just a tad lighter. It appears a bit flat to me. The crop also feels a bit long...would maybe consider giving it a little more room and going with a more conventional horizontal crop. Llove the hint of feather.

Would be very interested to see a repost without the details extractor for comparison.

Karl Egressy

03-07-2012, 10:02 AM

Striking sharpness, detai and a background that makes the bird pop, Stuart. Love the slightly opened beak and the little feather on it is a nice touch.

Stu Bowie

03-07-2012, 11:31 AM

Thanks for the feedback. Here is a repost using my normal workflow without detail extractor. I feel the sharpness is still there, but the detail extractor certainly brought out the eye better. The eye is untouched in my OP, and in my repost, I had to lighten it a touch. I have used a wider crop as per Marina, and slightly lighter as per Randy's suggestion. I would be interested to see how you see the comparison.

Daniel Cadieux

03-07-2012, 12:52 PM

A KF portrait at 275mm!!!! Awesome image, super details in both versions but prefer the repost for the lighter eye and better crop.

Jim Crosswell

03-07-2012, 05:55 PM

Excellent image Stuart! I like the sharpness, details and composition of the repost.

Sidharth Kodikal

03-07-2012, 10:11 PM

Awesome portrait, Stu. Sharpness, comp, exposure - all great. I'm a bit fan of your regular workflow output - so obviously my choice is your repost.

Robert Holguin

03-08-2012, 01:31 AM

Wonderful close up shot!!! Detail is superb, exposed very well, love the background, and I like the repsot better.
Well done.

arash_hazeghi

03-08-2012, 03:20 AM

very nice head shop like the pano crop too

Ron Sprunger

03-08-2012, 09:36 AM

Better detail in the whites in the OP, but maybe that's just because it's less bright. And I do like the pano. Can't imagine getting that close to a KF, and you really took advantage of it with a great shot.

Stu Bowie

03-09-2012, 12:34 AM

Thank you all for the kind words and feedback.