I have posted a photo of a close up portrait of a peregrine falcon here in this forum. Based upon your feedback and what I have learned the importance of having a nice background, I have gone back and searched for images that were taken at a bit shorter focal length to include the environment.
1DX
500f4 II + 1.4X II
1/2500
f5.6
ISO-400
+1 1/3 EV bias in Evaluative Metering mode
Cropped 1/6 off left and right and ~ 1/4 off the top.
Cleaned up a few distracting branches on the perch, one on the ground, one blocking the bird tail (this one was hard for me, hope it is not so obvious) in PS Element 11
Darkened the sky a little, NR, and sharpened in LR4.
I will need to learn Photoshop CS6. The PS Element 11 only supports 8-bit TITF file and it seems to introduce a lot of noise during the conversion from RAW to TITF and import back to LR4. The original RAW file is very clean.
Head of the bird is not as sharp as I would have liked. Probably the focus was not spot on.
Love that head turn and "look" it's giving you. Very nice colors as well. I see these falcons occasionally, but never this close. Nice shot (at this size, and with my eyes, it looks sharp enough to me, but don't take my word for it. ;)
Loi, you have the right idea here and I would suggest cropping tighter to eliminate the vertical part of the perch on the left. Your assessment of the focus is correct, the camera did not catch focus on the eye as you would have liked. Still a nice image though and a preview of good images to come from you I'm sure.
I am interested in your workflow because what you said about RAW conversion in PSE doesn't sound right to me. LR4 converts your RAW image to a TIFF when you export it to PSE for editing and you seem to imply that the conversion is done in PSE. Do you have your LR4 export preferences set to export an 8-bit TIFF? What is the flow of an image through your system, from SD card to final image?
"It is an illusion that photos are made with the camera... they are made with the eye, heart, and head." - Henri Cartier Bresson
I am interested in your workflow because what you said about RAW conversion in PSE doesn't sound right to me. LR4 converts your RAW image to a TIFF when you export it to PSE for editing and you seem to imply that the conversion is done in PSE. Do you have your LR4 export preferences set to export an 8-bit TIFF? What is the flow of an image through your system, from SD card to final image?[/QUOTE]
Hi Kerry, thank you for your help here. You are correct about the workflow. I export the RAW file in LR4 as an 8-bit TITF image, then I open PSE and read it in and do some rudimentary fixed in PSE, then save it, and then I re-import the resulting back into LR4. Is the last step where the noise incurred. Should I just finish the job in PSE? I;m new to pSE, so not entirely comfortable with it yet.
Loi, I'm not sure about Elements, but when I edit my LR4 image in Photoshop (which I only do for things that can't be done in LR) I just "save" and the image is sent back to LR4 as a TIFF. I'm thinking that you have an extra conversion step at the end. My workflow goes from LR4: Cmd-E (opens image in PS) then make edits, Cmd-S in PS sends it back to LR4, done. I have my "external editing" preference set for PS CS6, 16-bit TIFF (you need 8-bit), ProPhoto RGB color space, 240 dpi. If I want to save the image for web, I go back to PS and re-size the image (it's still there) then save for web.
* I just checked on this and PSE 11 does integrate with LR4. No problem.
Last edited by Kerry Perkins; 02-05-2013 at 11:48 PM.
"It is an illusion that photos are made with the camera... they are made with the eye, heart, and head." - Henri Cartier Bresson
Kerry, thank you for your help. I will try it next time. Regarding cropping tighter, I have many images at closer range as well as those taken with a 2X. This time I would like to show a little more of the sandy beach.
Loi, I'm not sure about Elements, but when I edit my LR4 image in Photoshop (which I only do for things that can't be done in LR) I just "save" and the image is sent back to LR4 as a TIFF. I'm thinking that you have an extra conversion step at the end. My workflow goes from LR4: Cmd-E (opens image in PS) then make edits, Cmd-S in PS sends it back to LR4, done. I have my "external editing" preference set for PS CS6, 16-bit TIFF (you need 8-bit), ProPhoto RGB color space, 240 dpi. If I want to save the image for web, I go back to PS and re-size the image (it's still there) then save for web.
* I just checked on this and PSE 11 does integrate with LR4. No problem.
Kerry , Why ProPhoto RGB Color space ? the quick answer of "It just does a better job " is good enough for me ....But if you have time to give a deeper answer that would be great too. Also I went to 300 dpi is that OK?Any benefits for lower ?
Nice shot, what a moment bet your heart was pounding! The composition takes this shot from good to great as noted by Kerry. Remember distracting elements rob the photographer - keep the edges clean and balance/harmony in the frame. Good photograph and comments above - keep em coming.
Clyde, the ProPhoto color space has a much wider gamut than Adobe RGB and comes closer to what the RAW file actually contains. While it is necessary to convert to other color spaces for web (sRGB) and some printers, there are good inkjet printers and professional dye sublimation printers that can take advantage of the extended color gamut. A quick Internet search will show you lots of articles about it.
As for print resolution, most printers of any kind make great prints at 240dpi, so it's more like "no benefits for going higher" unless a publisher specifies 300dpi. Sometimes they do, and if that's the case I just go back to the master file and make a new export. This helps to keep the files sizes down also.
"It is an illusion that photos are made with the camera... they are made with the eye, heart, and head." - Henri Cartier Bresson
Thank You very much Mr. Kerry . I trust your Information far more then "Goggle " ,However I fully understand what you are saying About Using the search tools to my advantage .......And will do so . I do appreciate all you and others do here .
just wanted to say, that is a beautiful shot. Did you post this on the avian forum. I like the tighter crop also. Well done
David, thank you. Thanks to Kerry for doing the tighter crop.
No i have not posted this on the Avian forum. I actually have other photos taken with the 2X instead of 1.4X and thus requires very little crop. I will look later this week and will post one on the Avian forum.
Peregrine Falcon on Beach
Originally Posted by Kerry Perkins
