Woody Sandpiper; Baie-Comeau CA

Hi :)

My first image post in BPN! Excited to share with you the original image, imported to LR and exported immediately out, with no adjustments or cropping, so that a) you have a good idea of the nature (and my skill level) of the original capture, and that b) in the hopes that you will share with me your initial thoughts on where to go from here :)

Image specs:

Camera: Canon EOS 70D
Lens: Canon 100 - 400 L 3.4 - 5.6 + TC 1.4 MKII
Focal Length: 520 mm
Exposure: 1/320 at f/11
Exposure Bias -1 EV
ISO: 100
Mode: Aperture Priority
Metering Mode: Pattern


Some of my initial thoughts on this image:

• It is not sharp as it could be - I was hand holding, and after learning a little more, I now know I should have had support for this lens
• I feel it is underexposed
• I most likely would crop it roughly 40%

Truly looking forward to comments and critiques, thank you in advance!

Edit: This is a Juvenile Wood Sandpiper I believe, not a "Woody" Sandpiper" ...

Overall nice shot, Melyssa. It does seem dark, perhaps an adjustment to spot metering rather than pattern would help? Instead of taking an average of the whole scene, spot metering will draw information from just a tiny spot in the center of the view. Good luck! PS - this is my first post and I found you while trying to figure out how to post a shot I took yesterday...

Hi Melyssa. A little dark but fixable for sure. I think I would have used a faster SS. @560mm and a SS of 320 you have to be rock solid handholding. I would have gone something like 1000 SS and f/7.1 or so. I would crop it with the bird in the left side of the frame. Nice shot. :)

Hi Jane!

Pleasure to eMeet you, welcome to BPN fellow newbie :) and thank you so much for the helpful feedback! Maybe this thread will help you? It was posted in the Introductions section by mod Randy Stout and was how I figured out how to post my first image here :) Hopefully it is helpful for you as well :) Happy Thanksgiving!

http://www.birdphotographers.net/for...m-Time-to-Time

Hi Craig and thank you for the advice! I had ratcheted down on the f-stops because it was noon, there was really harsh ligh and a lot of glare of the sand and the water, and as a result I kept blowing out the whites, both on the sandpiper and behind in the water. As I am still learning how the components of exposure works, I was in my go-to mode of Aperture priority, so the camera chose everything else - everytime I am in manual I blow the shot :) Your feedback has been super helpful and I am very appreciative - I have taken note - thank you so much and have a great day!

Hi Melyssa, and welcome! Your assessment is good -- it could use some cropping and is underexposed. The best strategy is always to overexpose as far as possible without blowing highlights. Don't be concerned about small specular highlights -- they should be white (and will often be cloned out). Whites on the bird are a legitimate concern but you could have gone brighter here. LR will let you bring highlights under control to a large degree. When in doubt, bracket.

You were in Aperture priority and you don't control exposure there by stopping down. That will increase the depth of field, and slow the shutter speed. You control exposure with the exposure compensation dial. (In M mode, it would reduce exposure.)

Craig is right -- you need a much higher SS and can probably go to a wider aperture.

Getting lower is always a good idea, if possible, and getting the sun behind you will give more even light, which is often desirable.

It's tricky when looking down at water, but it looks like this wants some clockwise rotation.

I hope you are using the full power of Lightroom -- you can really bring out the potential in an image with optimal raw conversion.

Looking forward to seeing more from you!

Really excellent feedback Diane, thank you so much! I never knew what exposure compensation was used for, and now I do, which I have you to thank for! :) Absolutely right in stopping down that it slows shutter speed - that is me still being a newbie and not know how to technically operate my camera for the conditions at hand :) I love LR, but am finding that is a whole other slew of technical understanding that needs to occur :)

I am very grateful for your very detailed points, I have taken all of them down and will work to build them into my knowledge set. Very much appreciated, I will be back tomorrow with an updated/optimized image based on everyone's recommendations :)

Thank you again!

Hi Melyssa welcome to the forum. I agree with the comment you have ad so far. Although your shutter speed was a little low the image does look sharp. I think the main problem with it is the under exposure but you will be amazed at what Lightroom can do. One thing you do not mention, do you shoot with the camera set to RAW or jpg? This will make a major difference when it comes to post processing and it is always better to shoot raw at it allows a much larger range of adjustments without affecting your original file.
You will get some great advice here especially from Diane on post processing.

Hi Iain! Thank you for the welcome! I am definitely excited to be here! I have learned so much already in my first day :) This was originally shot in RAW, and I chose to export it here in JPEG, but I do always shoot in RAW :) I am goin gto try and optimize the image in LR based on everyone's feedback here and repost :) You are right when it comes to LR - I am finding that it too is very powerful (just like my camera) you just have to know a) what you want to achieve with your image and then b) how to accomplish that inside of Lightroom :) So much to learn!! Thank you and have a great evening!

And, the optimized version based on everyone's excellent feedback (thank you!). My adjustments:

Heavy crop
Brought exposure up +.7
Brought Clarity up +10

Yes, good! Welcome to the start of a fun adventure!

You could also get way with a slightly looser crop -- I tend to crop too tight and when people point it out I always feel that they have a good point. I also did some rotation -- very subjective with this perspective.

Yes! Thank you! That crop is sooo much better! I see the difference now :) Thank you so much for taking the time to demonstrate your feedback - this is so helpful for me!

Hi Melyssa, you are off to a great start:S3:. I don't have anything else to offer photo-wise as you have had great advice already. I just want to point out that your subject is a Golden Plover...likely an American Golden Plover but perhaps a Pacific GP. Pretty neat setting with those scattered sea algae.

Ah! Thank you so much for the correct ID! I scoured eBird and the Audubon Guide to find the right species - I was thrown by the perfect little yellow dots on it's tail and hindwings. Thank you again for the correction! Still learning my birds ...

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Daniel Cadieux

Hi Melyssa, you are off to a great start:S3:. I don't have anything else to offer photo-wise as you have had great advice already. I just want to point out that your subject is a Golden Plover...likely an American Golden Plover but perhaps a Pacific GP. Pretty neat setting with those scattered sea algae.

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A pacific golden plover in Baie-Comeau would be exceptional, so I would bet on the American one.

Unless there is another Baie-Comeau out of Canada that I am not aware of, which is also an option.

Hi P-A. :) I did more research after Daniel brought it to my attention, and it looks to be a young American Golden Plover :)

He he, I took the "CA" as being California...hence the "Pacific" possiblity.

I really like the changes you have made and like the looser crop in Diane's version. The one thing I would consider doing extra if it were mine would be to clone out he light brown seaweed on the right or at least tone it down as I think it draws the attention away from the bird.

Thank you Iain! Excellent suggestion! I completely agree now that you bring it up - the light brown seaweed is distracting and draws the eye away from the Plover :) Will do.