American white Pelican

[Michael Todd]

OK, here goes! This is my first post of a photo. Taken at Lock and Dam 22 on the Mississippi river near Saverton, Mo. Due to the layout of the area where photos can be taken, it puts me 90 degrees to the sun, so i get alot of shadows.
Cropped, White and Black points set, small amount of sharpening and a highlight and contrast adjustment, all in LR4.
CC welcome....I have a lot to learn.
BTW, the bird looks somewhat lighter (especially the blacks of the wing feathers) on flickr that on my computer.


Canon 7D, handheld
400mm f/5.6
1/3200 sec at f/8.0, ISO 400

[Jeff Cashdollar]

Michael,

Welcome and thanks for posting - this is a nice composition good subject placement the opportunity here is exposure. The whites in the head and neck area are too hot and lack detail. What time was this taken - looks like the sun was high in the sky?

You mentioned the sun placement at 90 degrees - always better behind you and in the morning/evening soft light - but we take what we get sometimes. These shots are always challenging when the sun reflects off the white and bright areas of the subject. Often, we need to increase shutter speed or a wider aperture to compensate for the reflections. Moreover, it is one thing to set the exposure for the whites and another to set the exposure for reflecting light. I often shoot manual and increase the shutter 2/3's when I see the bird flying into a position to reflect light. Birds in flight (BIF) are challenging and you did well here, this is the place to be if you desire to get better,..keep posting and practicing.

Just curious, do you have any reading material like "The Art of Bird Photography" or "Digital Basics"?

Did you post to the site or vis a link?

[Kerry Perkins]

Hello Michael and welcome to BPN. Here at Eager To Learn we will help you become a better photographer and look forward to seeing your images.

Jeff has covered the main issue with this image, which is the harsh sunlight. It is just not possible to expose for both whites and blacks in full sun like this, so you end up compromising the exposure - preferably in favor of the whites. While your whites are not clipped, the strength of the direct sun is causing the detail to get washed out. As Jeff mentions, better to go looking for bird early in the morning or late in the evening. I would also open up the image, as the crop feels cramped to me. No room for the bird to flap its wings. Keep them coming!

P.S. - if you can give us a link to your Flickr photo we could take a look. There should be no difference between a posted image and what you see on your computer. To check this before posting, just open the image in your browser and see how it looks. If there is a difference it is likely due to color management. Your color space (sRGB) should be imbedded in the image.

[Michael Todd]

Whew...that went better than I thought it would. I had visions of the moderators rolling on the floor laughing and saying "No Way!!"

Thanks Jeff and Kerry for the awesome comments.

@jeff: Exposure is a problem for me. I took a reading off of the sky when I got there and then added 1 stop for this bird. Maybe I should have added a little more. This image was shot at around 10 am, so yes the sun was high. As far as placement, later in the day would maybe catch a better light at certain times of the year, but its mostly harsh light or none. To further compound the problem, the Corp of Engineers have a high chain link fence around the area which really limits where you can stand for photos. As far as reading material...yes I have Arthur's book and Digital Basics and his 7D users guide and a video. I love his stuff!

@Kerry: Here is the link http://www.flickr.com/photos/mdt456/. But it may not be off as much as I thought it was. Thanks for the tip on the crop, I never thought about it relating to an actual function of the bird as in wing motion.


I went back and reopened this image in LR and made a few more adjustments. I hope it is OK for me to repost it. I adusted the exposure down 1/2 stop, reset the WB and reset the white point down. I also opened up the crop.
The head and neck area are still to hot, but some what better I think.