White-faced Ibis

[Miguel Palaviccini]

On my last outing, I spotted a new life-bird for me. The white faced Ibis. Luckily, I was with an experience birder who was able to point it out of the flock of Glossy's. The main giveaway is the red eye, but they have pinkish legs as well (a trait that I found hard to use for identification). The light was harsh, so I kept it at my back to reduce any unwanted shadows. I got down on my belly to separate this guy from the bg, and then waited patiently for him (her?) to get closer. He (she?) did not disappoint!

In post, I removed some twigs and did my best to reduce some hot-spots in both the bg and fg. Detail extractor to the Ibis alone. Then added a "negative" tonal contrast to the bg. Cropped about 20% from the top and right. Resized for web and sharpened selectively.

For the HD version, see here.

The next post will be that of the Glossy Ibis. I found it interesting that the Glossy has a white face ...

Shooting Info:
Nikon D800 | 500 f/4 + 1.4x
1/1000" | f/7.1 | ISO 1250

Suggestions and critiques are always welcomed and appreciated!

[David Salem]

Nice shot of this Ibis. Like the pose and the sheen on the wing. Details are nice but I feel it looks a bit over exposed and needs a reduction of at least a third. See if it is just me and my monitor or what others see. Otherwise a very nice scene. Well done

[vishaljadhav]

Nice one, agree with David on the exposure it needs to be down a bit
The details are amazing with a nice level, i love the eye
We get a similar looking bird called the Glossy ibis , may be will post it soon here

[Stu Bowie]

Hi Miguel, I like how you have planned this shot, and I feel your angle of capture has turned out well. I like how the Ibis is framed against the distant OOF BG, and overall, the colours in the image are stunning.

I do however find the image a touch on the 'bright' side ( you did mention it was captured in harsh light ) Here is my version with only a multiply blending mode at 35% opacity.

[PhilCook]

Nicely composed in frame and liking the soft color tones on the ultra smooth backdrop, nice work getting the eye so nicely clear. Stuarts repost has worked a little better, although I feel the bird itself could be a little darker as it still looks a little hazy and not showing the lovely flank colors as well as it could. On this shot also I think a slightly higher angle of shot would of helped eliminate a bit more of the oof grass particularly the section rising to the chest region

[Miguel Palaviccini]

Wow, what a difference that multiply layer makes. Thanks for the tip! I absolutely like the repost better and will have to edit mine a bit more. I'm wondering if it's worth going back to the RAW file and increasing the exposure, then reprocessing. Thoughts?

[arash_hazeghi]

very cool, I like the iridescence and the display of habitat, orig was way too bright even the repost looks too bright and washed out to me. In my areas this is how this bird looks like...would adjust B/C and saturation for this one

[christopher galeski]

nice image,love the colors of the bird,like Stuarts repost.

[Karl Egressy]

Beauty shot, Miguel. I like the first version better.

[Jim Crosswell]

I like the pose, sharpness, low angle and BG colours compliment the Ibis perfectly. Stuarts repost is an improvement. Well done Miguel.

[Miguel Palaviccini]

Arash, thanks for the image. I'll use that as a reference to guide my next edit.

[Daniel Cadieux]

Congrats on your lifer bird. Love the BG and vegetation at bottom. You got some good tips to make this image even better.

I'm wondering if it's worth going back to the RAW file and increasing the exposure, then reprocessing. Thoughts?

I'm not sure what you mean though by increasing the exposure in RAW as it is already overexposed?

[Satish Ranadive]

Miguel:
Magnificent image with beautiful colors,very nice pose,lovely BG and FG. Very nice composition too.
Love the HD version.

Regards,
Satish.

[Miguel Palaviccini]

Congrats on your lifer bird. Love the BG and vegetation at bottom. You got some good tips to make this image even better.



I'm not sure what you mean though by increasing the exposure in RAW as it is already overexposed?

Ahhh, I meant decreasing the exposure. So basically start from scratch with the RAW, decrease exposure and then reprocess. As opposed to decreasing exposure on the "optimized" tiff.