Theme: Bald Eagle (Captive)

Old photo I took from a wildlife safari park.

Shooting Info: Canon EOS 7DII + EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II, 400mm f/5.6, 1/1600 sec, ISO 100
Attachment 190992

nice portrait, the image is very dark and the bald (white) eagle head has been turned into grey. I am not a fan of the square crop

TFS

TFS

I rather like it. You handled some tough light well. You can try going to Selective Color and taking some WHITE out of the BLACKs to make the WHITEs lighter.

with love, a

ps: got your raw file. Thanks. Will get to is asap.

Hi Eric, super portrait and very sharp, nice detail in the white plumage, albeit I'm not sure on the original exposure as there is quite a bit of grain when the image is lightened, however the original might be better, especially at ISO100.

Just a thought, but I'm wondering if your monitor needs calibrating if you haven't recently done that and or, is there any additional light hitting the screen which may affect what you see, as the images do look a tad dark when posted. Regarding the post, I might suggest 'double processing' the image, where the BKG is treated differently to the subject and then blended to make a composite, this just makes life easier in PP so you have a rich, dark backdrop, but the subject is treated separately to retain the lighter and brighter aspects.

Hopefully this rough RP will illustrate my thinking, albeit quickly done on the MacBook Pro.

TFS
Steve

Thanks for all the feedback. I am not very good at creating a mask specially on the feather details so I just do global adjustments and being content with some noise in the background for most of my images.

I need to refine my masking skills so that separate processing for subject and background doesn't look obvious. :bg3:

Hi Eric, if there is one think you must try to master and that is Layers & Masks, they are an integral part in PP and will serve you well. Nothing complicated, then you can be selective, as all of your Global adjustments will affect the entire image, something you must avoid at all costs.

Enjoy and have fun creating.

Steve

Great pose and detail. Steve's RP makes a big difference.

A nice dark and moody frame. I thought the original was too cold. The repost adresses that. Nice and sharp.

I just want to say that I have never used layers, and have used masks only sparingly, so there are other ways:t3. Anyhow, Steve's repost is a positive improvement indeed. I love the moody light you got here, Eric, and the all-black BG makes the eagle stand out lots.