Snail Kite salvage job

I really blew it on this Snail Kite fly-by. It was last light, and I didn't notice that my exposure compensation was set to zero (I normally would have used about +1 1/3 in these lighting conditions). I was shooting at ISO 1600, and significant underexposure at high ISO is usually a recipe for a lousy resulting image (especially true on a 1.6 crop sensor like the 50D). I liked the wing position and eye contact on this frame, so I gave it a shot in LR and PS. I had to boost my exposure 1.16 stops in LR. I was pleased with the resulting image so I thought I'd share it with you all.

http://birdwhisperer.smugmug.com/pho...33_WtwFX-O.jpg

Canon 50D, 500mm, f/5.6, 1/4000, ISO 1600, no flash, hand held

Hey Doug,
Really nice save! I looked hard to find some noise and while there may be a hair.....it's amazing that you got so little considering the high iso and the exposure boost in PP'ing. Sweet light and wing position and considering the circumstances....Great save!

Wow! Not only a great save of an image well worthy, but a great example of how well the 50D handles noise at 1600!!

I find the noise very acceptable considering the high ISO and underexposure. The eye looks very sharp and the light is great. I wish there were a bit more detail in the wings but that would probably bring out the noise more.

Good job, Doug. Lovely light and pose showing under and overwing patterns. Did you run NR on this? I agree with Axel that wing detail is probably suffering at the expense of lack of noise but I think the compromise works.

For educational purposes, here's a straight RAW-to-JPEG conversion of the original image.

Doug,

I think you did a fine job with the post processing and the image holds up fine for web display. I think the color you ended up with is a bit off though. I have 3 images that were made within a few seconds of this one, and they have a warmer appearance with more orange and less pink.

Thanks Jim! And thanks for a great couple of days in Florida. If I'd been shooting manual exposure like you do this wouldn't have happened. Oh well. There's always Utah!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Doug Brown

Thanks Jim! And thanks for a great couple of days in Florida. If I'd been shooting manual exposure like you do this wouldn't have happened. Oh well. There's always Utah!

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FYI: My exposure was 1/400, F5.6, ISO 1250. I was using the 500mm+1.4xTC on the 1D3. I'm ready for Utah!