Pair of Geese

[Jim Thomas]

Was out practicing with my new lens and raw processing. I found that OS doesn't quite cover shivering when freezing your butt off. This was the only frame I liked and could use. Still not comfortable with raw files and I'm not sure how to tell if they are even sharp, so i look at the jpeg then open and process the raw version. Just so everyone knows, I didn't do anything to the water and reflection. The geese are standing on something uunder the water, and the body contact somehow made the water very glassy right around them. Eye relections were half shiny' half black. Thanks for looking

Jim

D5000, 150-500 lens at 500mm, 6.3, 1/500 sec., iso 800.

PP; levels, usm, Nr

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[Jeannean Ryman]

Tough subjects to photograph with the white and black. Looks like you did fairly well where it counts (a few hot areas on the back geese's behind and a rather dark neck on the fore ground geese). Can you describe your workflow as far as sharpening? I'm seeing "jaggies" on both bills and on some of the edges. Might need to sharpen in stages or back off the radius or strength just a bit.

[Jim Thomas]

My work doesn't exactly flow at this point but here's a redo. Opened raw file, adjusted brightness until detail in whites were visible, opened in editor. Cropped for composition, First USM at 3/ 100, created a levels adjustment layer to set white and black points. Then a noise reduction (was a pretty noisy image with all the dark water), second usm at 1.5/70, then I did a selective levels and sharpen adjustment on the eyes, created color balance layer to remove greenish color, resized for bpn and last USM at .7/50. The colors aren't as vibrant in this one, but I couldn't change without losing the detail in blacks and whites.

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[Jeff Cashdollar]

Jim,

Thanks for sharing the first thing that comes to mind on this sweet shot is some of the whites are hot. Keep in mind, when shooting at 500MM at 1/500 shutter HH always set the exposure for the whites first. Notice the light was coming from the right and the reflection on the bright areas probably exceeded 255 max - my rule of thumb for exposure is,...you shoot the light not the subject. Check histogram and make adjustments.

The composition is alright maybe more off the left. Consider cleaning up the upper left hand corner (always walk your eye around the frame and balance the image); also there is some water slanting close to the subject's head and the triangle looking line is a bit distracting. I like the heads looking opposite directions and both subjects in focus shows good DoF field technique. Keep em coming!

[Jim Thomas]

Jim,

Thanks for sharing the first thing that comes to mind on this sweet shot is some of the whites are hot. Keep in mind, when shooting at 500MM at 1/500 shutter HH always set the exposure for the whites first. Notice the light was coming from the right and the reflection on the bright areas probably exceeded 255 max - my rule of thumb for exposure is,...you shoot the light not the subject. Check histogram and make adjustments.

The composition is alright maybe more off the left. Consider cleaning up the upper left hand corner (always walk your eye around the frame and balance the image); also there is some water slanting close to the subject's head and the triangle looking line is a bit distracting. I like the heads looking opposite directions and both subjects in focus shows good DoF field technique. Keep em coming!

Thanks Jeff! If I'd only had time to check my exposure. I had to step out from behind a bush to take the shot, a few frames then they were swimming away. Not sure what you had in mind for the cleaning up of the upper left, cloning ? But I did copy the breast area of the left goose and pasted it over the breast of the right goose to tone down the blown highlight, did the same with the rump. I feel like a cheater but there it is.

Jim

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[Jeff Cashdollar]

Jim,

This is an educational forum where we critique pictures,..access any thread and you will see normal back and forth on exposure, process, workflow and things of this nature. As the photographer you decide what to do,..this is your photo,..make changes as you wish. Your cheater comment really made me pause and as a general rule we include all adjustment in the photo narrative and ask for feedback to improve. Ansel Adams dodged and burt his black & white images and most do what they can to make the image compelling. Anyway, try and learn here my friend and have an open mind to both photography and art. If you disclose the adjustments in my opinion you are being fair; if your ethics disagree,..don't make the changes!

[Jim Thomas]

Jim,

This is an educational forum where we critique pictures,..access any thread and you will see normal back and forth on exposure, process, workflow and things of this nature. As the photographer you decide what to do,..this is your photo,..make changes as you wish. Your cheater comment really made me pause and as a general rule we include all adjustment in the photo narrative and ask for feedback to improve. Ansel Adams dodged and burt his black & white images and most do what they can to make the image compelling. Anyway, try and learn here my friend and have an open mind to both photography and art. If you disclose the adjustments in my opinion you are being fair; if your ethics disagree,..don't make the changes!

Jeff,
Sorry to have offended that was not my intention. My feeling like a cheater was supposed to be humorous. For me, this thread is all about PP techniques, many of which I'm not so familiar with, which is why with each suggestion I have gone back to the drawing board, made adjustments, and reposted. The same holds true with your suggestions. I tried every which way that I knew of to find the detail and adjust the blown whites, so in leiu of any suggestions, cloning was the only option that I could come up with, and i really wasn't sure if that was an acceptable way of dealing with it. Seemed to work rather well , but I guess I'll have to wait and see what if anything anyone else thinks. I hadn't even noticed the top area as I was so focused on the Geese themselves, and now it seems such an obvious distraction but I'm just not sure what to do with it yet. And another thing! You mentioned exposing for the white but I'm not sure how you do that without losing detail in the black. Even knowing what to do after the fact might not have helped since nothing looked particularly bright when I was taking the picture, it was just a bright , overcast morning with the sun peeking out here and there.

Jim

[Jim Thomas]

Well, I don't know if this will be my last go at this one or not. I clone out ditracting ripples then masked the geese and did a strong NR on background and then I thought it looked a bit washed out and orangy so I made a gradient layer using the mask. I maybe should have adjusted opacity a bit more.

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[Jeff Cashdollar]

Jim,

OK,..fair enough I thought you were feeling bad for making adjustments,...all is fine and Keep em coming!!!!


Nice repost,..night and day difference,..look how clean the edges are and all the attention is on the two beautiful subjects. Well done, do you have a copy of Digital Basics by Artie Morris? Great tutorial for post processing, I refer to it monthly.

[Jim Thomas]

okay, I mean it this time, last repost! I cleaned up a few tiny white spots in the water and also the thin line along neck from masking, slight curves adjustment. Can we call it done now? My eyes hurt.

Jim

[Jeannean Ryman]

Jim, I think the third repost is darn near perfect! Very nicely done. I like it a bit more than the last repost because of the tones in it. Very complimentary. Not too dark and not too bright. I know what you mean about PP. I struggle with it all the time and can rework a photo until I'm sick of looking at it...and it always looks different with slight adjustments. As Jeff said, the main thing is when we are satisfied. For me, the one of the most valuable parts of this forum is the fresh set of eyes!

[Jim Thomas]

Thanks Jeannean, I like the third repost best as well. The last was too dark and I wanted a chocolate feel. This thread has been an eye opener for me as I've been stuck with the notion that the best photos are the ones you do the least to. Thanks again.

Jim

[Clyde Hopper]

Waite ..... don't stop yet ,Can we blur the Bg some ? LOL, just kidding, The last repost looks good ! As far as the comment ..The Best photos are the ones you don't have to do much to , Well that would Kill every photo I take . My strong suit is the ability to get close to the wildlife and not so much the photography . I have to fix many mistakes in post ....But with the help of the fine folks here, I am getting better ! And you will too .