We have been seeing a lot of action from these night herons at the La Chua Trail (Gainesville, FL). I was very excited to capture this moment, but unfortunately I extremely underexposed the shot (by about 2 stops). I was able to pull out some of the detail, but the noise is noticeable, IMO. Either way, I loved the pose too much not to share.
Shooting Specs:
Nikon D800 | 500 f/4 VR +1.4x
700mm | 1/2000" | f/5.6 | ISO 1250 (should have been ISO 5000)
Processing:
- Added canvas to the left, removed from the right.
- Increased the exposure (+1.5), added some fill light, and changed white balance (removed magenta cast).
- Did my best to remove noise in PS while still keeping detail.
- Added contrast via curves.
- Cropped, resized, selective sharpened face.
Comments and critiques are welcomed and appreciated!
Hi Miguel, dont you wanna scream when you have the incorrect settings, and you have captured a great image. I do like the angled incoming pose showing the full wing spread. Your rescue has turnrd out well, and good idea going high key. Having said that, I do like the original BG too, and wonder if you could try a version inbetween, just enough to bring detail out in the juvi.
Thanks for the comments Stuart. I'll give that a shot. It was taken just before sunset, so the colors were warm and slightly pink. As you point out, maybe I should try a version that better reflects that. I'll try it out and repost later today. Thanks for taking the time to read and comment!
BIRDS AS ART Blog: great info and lessons, lots of images with our legendary BAA educational Captions; we will not sell you junk. 30+ years of long lens experience/e-mail with gear questions.
BIRDS AS ART Online Store: we will not sell you junk. 35 years of long lens experience. Please e-mail with gear questions.
Check out the new SONY e-Guide and videos that I did with Patrick Sparkman here. Ten percent discount for BPN members,
Black Crowned Night Heron (Juvenile II)
Reply With Quote
