I was out this morning and caught a Great Kiskadee with one of it's breakfast nibbles. I was pleased with the shot except it was in a dead tree with three more branches running through the frame (no way to get it without them), so tried to clone them out using content aware fill and the clone stamp. I can still see a faint difference in blue tones where they were, but not sure how to do it better (used some blur to try and blend them a bit better). Anyway, like I said, I was very pleased with the RAW file (lots of feather detail, etc.), but it didn't come out of post processing looking all that good. I used LR 4 and CS 5 for processing, with most done in LR 4. I used the default capture sharpening of 25-1-25 and then did resize sharpening, but didn't want to over-sharpen. I would appreciate any tips, suggestions, and/or comments of what I can do to make this shot look better. Thanks! Tech details: (Nikon D7000/500mm f/4 - P @1/2500, f/6.3, ISO 250, -.03 EV, spot metered on tripod)
Last edited by Jeannean Ryman; 07-28-2012 at 02:36 PM.
Well done Jeannean. Your exposure nicely handles the blacks and whites. All parts of the image are in the plane of focus resulting in good detail through out. IMHO the left side could be cropped.
Experiment with a crop just to the left of the branch. The quick mask is a good tool for getting rid of things with preservation of color, tone and texture.
The post processing techniques you used were done fairly well, this is challenging stuff when large distractions run completely through the frame. As Gary mentioned the QM tool is very helpful here and other techniques can be applied to clean up the frame. Just curious, do you have a copy of "Digital Basics" or "The Art of Bird Photography". Two great books that dive into high end processing methods and provide solid examples of before and after shots. We have an Education and Tutorial Forum as well - take a stroll and check out the helpful threads - they often reference these books.
Good technique leveraging a tripod and always curious about spot metering. I use it from time to time, what did you metered the assume you read the whites and entered the techs in manual mode? How large was the crop?
This is a real strong shot, beautiful subject, nice colors and a great action moment in the life of nature. Very well done and as for the background processing this comes with using the right tool and as you know lots of practice - so keep em coming!
Last edited by Jeff Cashdollar; 07-30-2012 at 05:27 PM.
what did you metered the assume you read the whites and entered the techs in manual mode? How large was the crop?
Thanks Gary and Jeff for the feedback and suggestions. I'll look into quick masks and the resources mentioned. I have a LOT to learn and appreciate the recommendations. Jeff, I metered on the white of the neck. I'm not sure how to state crops, but in LR, the NEF file was originally 4928 width and with the crop locked to aspect ratio, I cropped it to 3832; a difference of 1096. I have another photo of the Kiskadee that was on a clean perch and was a bit closer, but didn't have the little fish. Darn it!
Hi Jeannean,
I really like this photo. A very interesting bird with nice colours. It's always great to get them with something in their mouth. He's got a good head angle as well. You did pretty good with the sky. I didn't notice until I moved the screen back and forth.
Great Kiskadee
Originally Posted by Jeff Cashdollar
