Oriental Darter

Oriental Darter
Nov 14, 2010, 8:59am
Taken with 1D Mark IV, 500 F/4, 1.4 TC
1/2000, f/8, ISO 640 @ 700mm

this image was taken at cloudy day at Jamnagar Coastal area. I still feel something missing in Processing. can someone please point me ?

Mital, very cool pose indeed. Loved the water color too. A little more room on right will help.

Do you miss anything during processing :-) You might want to try and pull some details out of the blacks...but it does not bother me. some mid tones in the bird can go up a bit, can they? Light must have been harsh....typical afternoon in the tropics.

There's a tiny black spot near that distracting rock to the bird's right side...which is the only distracting rock IMO.

Hi Mital. I agree with Kaustubh comments and suggestions. More room ont he right will really help. Look forward to seeing more!

These guys always produce interesting poses. I feel adding some contrast will make this pop.

Mital, using curves to brighten the image without brightening the rocks might help. Hey...you are a master of photoshop...so am sure you will nail it.

KD thanks for the compliments. yes indeed it need room on right and those patch work on some area.
yes giving a bit more contrast will sure do something but then it may add some very crisp halos i seen specially with this chap always so didnt applied that as i had the same in my mind.

wing darkness i am not much bother as i really like the play of light here.

my main concern to find a clue was that i found the head loosing attention somehow may be adding selective feathered contrast from beak till some neck part may add more interest ?

will tomorrow give a try to do that and post.

btw i was comparing two one after another shot while darter on move and found there was really a light angle issue.

here is the another one.

what do you say ?

here is the original one edited as what i describe from beak to neck Levels ( i find it better ease for myself to use than curve ).. it was very quick move so i left a bright tiny patch near bottom part of beak so please bear.

The HA on your second image is much better, it draws more attention to the eye. I like the wing position in the first post. Overall I would choose the second but that is personal preference.

agree with Jim. way better HA. I mean waaaaay.

The OP has a strange thing happening around the head/neck areas. Not sure if it's the image itself or the processing to be honest. The second image Mital, has a far better head angle and is a nicer image overall. agreed about a little more room to the right. :)