Dark-eyed Junco (Oregon) II

[Michael Gerald-Yamasaki]

Another try, incrementally better ss ;-)



D4 300f2.8 + TC20EIII (600mm) f/8 1/640 ISO1600 Spot HH
Blacks looked overexposed a stop, whites looked bright but not blown. Converted down a stop, lifted whites in pp. Sharpened. NR on bg. Cropped to 60% of original.

Thanks for looking.

Cheers,

-Michael-

[James Shadle]

Michael,
"Spot" = Spot metering?
If so, what area did you have the sensor on?
Thanks

[Michael Gerald-Yamasaki]

James,

I was aiming for the border between the black & white on the chest... The focus point in the image shows it all on the black just above the whites, though. I usually shoot center-weighted in these conditions, but have been exploring different settings for grins.

Cheers,

-Michael-

[Kerry Perkins]

Michael, your camera is expecting something in the area of 13% gray for spot metering. You can't sit on the fence with that. Your exposure gymnastics are not helping the capture. You overexposed the capture, then subtracted a stop in post, and then boosted the whites? These poor data don't know what to do. For comparison take a look at this image - http://www.birdphotographers.net/for...ighlight=junco

[Michael Gerald-Yamasaki]

Kerry,

Techs aside... what do you think of the image? It was taken in pretty different conditions than your shot (bright late afternoon direct light with complete shadow bg vs. mid-day shadows).

Regarding the exposure... It was actually pretty much dead on ettr, but the blacks looked overexposed to me. A levels adjustment to set a black point would find the black point in the bg and not bring down the head enough.

The untouched straight neutral auto wb (chose daylight 5200 for the OP)... what would have been the unsharpened jpeg SOOC.



Adjustments to OP effecting tone: change neutral to Nikon Standard Picture control added some saturation and contrast (this is the curve applied during raw conversion), WB from auto to daylight added warmth, converted -1 ev for blacks, lifted whites with Lab mode curves (looks like less change than the -1 stop conversion).

I must say the bird looks a lot more like the OP to me (minus some saturation).

Thanks for taking a look.

Cheers,

-Michael-

[James Shadle]

Michael,
Thanks - the sensor location explains the over-exposure.
If it's black, take it back. Or dial in negative exposure compensation.

As Kerry stated the camera thinks the world is a middle tone and will try and turn what it meters into a middle tone.

If you spot meter a middle tone - cool. If you spot meter a black without compensation (-1) it will look a middle tone(gray).
The meter doesn't know it's target is black, it just thinks it's metering a middle tone in low light. The meter opens up your exposure. Net result, over exposure.

If you spot meter a white without compensation (+1 - +1.3) it will also look like a middle tone(gray).
The meter doesn't know it's target is white, it just thinks it's metering a middle tone in very bright light.
The meter closes down your exposure. Net result, under-exposure.

[Michael Gerald-Yamasaki]

Capt. James,

Thanks much... good to keep in mind.

Cheers,

-Michael-

[Kerry Perkins]

Hi Michael, sorry did not mean to give you a one-dimensional critique. I find the OOF elements in the lower quarter of the image to be distracting. Also, the tail is obscured. I do like the eye contact and composition. I think that a version with brightness that is somewhere between the original capture and your first post would be good.

[Bob Miller]

Mike...in camera metering aside I think you did a pretty good job with the image processing...maybe a bit brighter for the whites....nice feather detail and claws. The biggest drawback for me is the oof foreground,,,,,,I would clone them out or at least tone them down.

[Michael Gerald-Yamasaki]

Kerry, Bob,

Thanks much for the comments. Yeah, I have to pay attention more to intervening oof objects... I often just plainly don't see them until processing.

Cheers,

-Michael-

[Randall Farhy]

Hi Michael, others have covered this pretty well-I too like the composition and results closer to the OP, perhaps a tick lighter. As for the distracting foreground- a slightly elevated vantage point would help. I keep a stepladder in my vehicle for just that reason, though I can see it being a real PITA lugging it around on trails. (not sure where these were taken, Forest/park/yard etc.)