In flight Hoodie (saved by the D800)

[Miguel Palaviccini]

Back to the local pond this evening ... and boy did the D800 save me. I was shooting these guys in manual as there wasn't a cloud in the sky. Everything was going great, until someone went to the other side of the pond and spooked them. I was semi-ready and fired off some shots ... and then they flew into the shade. I didn't have any time to increase the exposure (ideally I would have bumped the ISO up quite a bit). The result looked like a black LCD screen with very little detail. I was upset ... I knew I had locked focus! Well, I decided to keep it and try some PP. It took +3EV in LR to get from before to after, but I'll take it! Not much detail that I could pull from the blacks.

Shooting info:
Nikon D800 | 500 f/4 VR + 1.4xii
1/2500" | f/6.3 | ISO 640 (should have been ~3200)

[Miguel Palaviccini]

And the original ... SOOC

[dankearl]

Your PP is amazing. Nice flight shot, a raised near wing would have been spectacular.

[Miguel Palaviccini]

Your PP is amazing. Nice flight shot, a raised near wing would have been spectacular.

Thanks Dan. I wish I could take credit, but the D800 sensor did a lot of the heavy lifting here.

[jack williamson]

That is very impressive. I would have probably deleted that in camera. How much noise reduction did you have to do?

[arash_hazeghi]

cool pose and BG, D800 sensor def helped with low shadow noise, the blacks still have no detail but I wouldn't expect that with this much under exposure. very good. hopefully next time you can nail those blacks too with.

[Diane Miller]

This is wonderful even for an image that had been perfectly exposed. It's so much of a temptation to pull too much detail out of darks just because we can -- this is what things look like!

Must be an awesome sensor, though, to give you that latitude. Good work!

[Lyle Gruby]

Agreed, saved by the D800. Blacks could use a little more detail, but still a great shot. It'll be a reason to go back!

[Dan Brown]

Great save! ETTL! (exposed to the left)

[vishaljadhav]

i must say i am impressed with the image, flight nicely captured with a perfect BG, eye is rightly in focus
seeing the original i would sit and clap for the camera and you to get this in post processing
lovely image

[shane shacaluga]

Great save! You are using the setup I eventually would like to end up with. This makes me confident I will be making the right choice

Thanks for sharing.

[Karl Egressy]

Based on the original, you did some amazing improvement in PP, Miguel. Excellent flight shot.

[Stu Bowie]

Hi Miguel, great to see one in flight, after having seen wing flaps and swimming poses. Nothing wrong with that either BTW. Im totally fine with this inflight pose, killer BG, and congrats on your fine pp work.

[Bill Dix]

Very nice flight shot,Miguel. Good reactions, pretty amazing sensor, and not to slouchy PP work to salvage it. Well done.

[Dan Brown]

Again, Great save, Miquel! Could you give a little more detail on your PP - NR, sharpening particularly? Thanks

[Miguel Palaviccini]

Again, Great save, Miquel! Could you give a little more detail on your PP - NR, sharpening particularly? Thanks

No problem, I'll go ahead and do that tonight when I get the chance.

[Daniel Cadieux]

No need to get it right in camera anymore!!! Kidding of course, but that is impressive recuperation there. Dynamic pose!

[gail bisson]

Holy Moly! I would have deleted that in camera!! I am afraid to raise the exposure by more than .5 on my 1DMKIV. Maybe I will be braver in the future.
Thanks for posting the OP to compare.
Tack sharp and love the green BG,
Gail

[christopher galeski]

its all been said,well don on saving it.

[David Salem]

Great work by you and the 800. Nice salvage on a heavily under exposed image. Yes the blacks are still not there but come on, look at the original. Good example of what can be done.

[Robert Holguin]

Very impressive indeed.
Excellent flight pose, sharp, and great comp.
Excellent PP skills.
Well done.