Willow Flycatcher (juvenile?)

Canon 5D MK II; Canon 300mm f4L IS + 1.4X II TC (420mm); ISO 320; f5.6 @ 1/1000sec; Tv; pattern metering; +1/3 EV; subject distance 7.65m; Induro alloy monopod w/RRS monopod head; shot 8/6/10 at Eagle Creek Park, Indianapolis, Indiana

PP: LR 2.6/NIK
very large crop (about 75%) to reduce busy background
set black and white points
enhanced clarity and vibrance
post-crop vignette
Viveza to reduce bright highlights in background
ColorEfex Pro for polarization filter
Sharpener Pro
Dfine 2.0 for background NR

Questions: Is this a juvenile? Too much crop? Too much sharpening? Can the background be improved upon? Should I turn off IS at SS 1/1000 or higher?

Thanks,
C & C appreciated!:)

Thanks for all the processing info ... !!

I reckon a juvenile owing to the sweet expression.

Background too busy for me ... would like to see a more blurred hence softer effect.

Amano

Julie, the bird is captured beautifully - excellent detail on my monitor, not overly sharp at all. I am surprised at how good the image looks with such a drastic crop. The image seems just a bit too bright in general. You may consider dialing back the exposure overall, and then reduce the brightness of the BG even more, since it is so busy. Even though you've already cropped quite a bit, I would crop even more from the right side since the BG is not adding much to the image. Some additional BG blurring, as Amano suggests, might also help.

John

Thank you Amano and John. With an aperture of f5.6, I usually get a much nicer background, but I guess there was just too much there. Any advice on what I could do with the background if I take this into Photoshop CS5? I'm a novice with Photoshop, but I need to give this a try and then repost.:)

BTW John, the 5D MK II allows me to do these large crops and still retain IQ!

Julie, here is an example of what I suggested. First, I duplicated the background layer and applied all adjustments to that layer. I selected the bird and then inverted the selection so that the BG of the image was selected. I then sequentially ran a Levels adjustment to reduce brightness and an HSL adjustment to reduce saturation. To blur the BG a bit more, I ran some moderate NR using Topaz Denoise. Finally, I took down the brightness of the entire image with a Curves adjustment layer - I just pulled down the center of the Curve.

I did this (particularly the selection of the bird) very quickly, so it is not perfect, but it should give you an idea of what is possible in PS.

John

P.S.: Looks like there may be a slight green color cast to the image (noticeable on the bird's underside). This can be fixed easily in PS.

Thanks John, for explaining how you did this. It helps to make the background less distracting. I will have to give this a try.:cool:

Hi Julie

John leaves me feeling a bit gobsmacked .. not sure what effects he is using!

I would copy the image into another layer in Photoshop then apply Gaussian blur to that image till the background is how I like it; then it would be a matter of applying a mask to that image (black initially) before painting back in the blurred background.

Yes, there is a colour caste in this image on the bird's underside but I do not know an easy way to get rid of it ... guess by using a masked adjustment layer !?

Look Forward to seeing your repost .. !!?

Amano

The bird is sharp and the pose is nice and I love the feet on the perch. The background is noisy and terribly distracting (and sorry, the repost did not help very much if at all). In addition, there are some strange straight, light lines in the BKGR. I am thinking that without a complete re-do on the BKGR here that this one needs to remain a nice ID image of a juvie; I think that the wide buffy wing bars indicate a young bird....

Thanks Amano. I think your suggestion is more in line with what I was thinking needed to be done. I am not sure if that is a color cast on the lower breast. From info found on the web, I think that is a characteristic of a young bird.:confused:

Thank you for the comment, Artie. I agree, the background does ruin the image. I should attempt to redo the BG in PS-it will be good practice. The image will serve as ID documentation for now, since this is a new bird for me. It will be fun to try for a better image next summer! BTW, I purchased Digital Basics last July, but have not yet taken the time to work through the tutorials. I was amused by your statement that you used to be terrified of layer masks, and that pretty much describes me at this point. :D

Hi Julie, YAW. Thanks for being understanding and willing to learn :) Your comments about Layer Masks made me smile. Now I use them on most images without even thinking about it. Denise Ippolito helped me quite a bit with the fine points.

Artie, the learning part is the most fun for me. BPN is such a great resource, I am so glad to be a member. I want to start re-working this image right now, but I really need to be grading papers!:(

Ah, grading papers. I remember it well. Hey, when I am frank, some folks get very upset. I do try to be gentle but sometimes it does not matter as some folks take it personally :)

Artie, I think you were very gentle on my image.:) For those of us who want to learn, it does no good for you or any of the moderators to sugar-coat comments. Who wants to keep repeating the same mistakes? Photography is my refuge from the stresses of being an urban school teacher, but as in everything I do-I strive to progress in skill and knowledge. Thanks again for your comments!

YAW, and thanks again for your understanding. Now we need to figure out a way to get some of the members to feel free to hit on the negative aspects of an image when called for :) Some do, but too many overlook obvious flaws....

Julie

The background here is really busy ... I copied the (background) layer and applied a Gaussian blur of 70, reducing the opacity of this by a little over 10%

I then applied a negative mask (ALT clicingk the masking icon at the bottom of the Levels palette) and used a white brush to paint the bird back in.

Not really satisfied .. this needs more consideration and work. Furthermore, its' your image to perfect.

Layer Masks are really cool when you get the knack of them also easy to apply.

Good Luck

Amano

Amano, You did much better than I thought possible With a bit more work toning down the yellows and greens this could be excellent. I am always glad to learn something new :)

That is what I hoped for, Amano! I just need to learn to do this on my own. Thank you for taking the time to work on this image.

Julie

Another suggestion ... here I painted on the mask again with a black brush at 66% to bring in some of the detail; it all looks a bit surreal but with Photoshop, almost anything is possible!?

Quote:

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John leaves me feeling a bit gobsmacked .. not sure what effects he is using!

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Amano, I used no "effects" - I did what I described, which was to darken and desaturate the background to make it a bit less obtrusive.

Not sure your repost is an improvement - the BG looks lime-green and totally garish to me. Would be interested in some more opinions - if most people consider your repost acceptable, I definitely need to see my optometrist!

I agee that a busy BG such as this one is hard to work with, but Julie nailed the bird and darkening and desaturating the background -- with some additional BG blurring -- seems a reasonable solution.

John

John used Topaz Denoise which I do not know ...it seems to be outside of Photoshop hence I referred to it as effect particularly since it has not apparently been used to reduce noise!

My suggestions are there for you to consider Julie ... I think my next repost would be with a much more blurred BG .. it can take time to work out what looks good and really, only you can decide ... !

Regards

Amano

John, I have darkened and desaturated the background using NIK Viveza, in other images, to reduce bright areas and that is a viable option. Amano, I appreciate what you did with the reposts, as it will help motivate me to learn how to use layer masks in PS.