I'm looking thru my old photos for 1 or 2 images to contribute to the local Santa Monica National Park. Images must be taken inside the Santa Monica Mountain zone. I have very few images here, so this one may have to make do. Would like your feedback on the whites. It was a tad hot, and I have tried to tame it Highlights during DPP RAW conversion. Reducing exposure made the BG quite dark, so I left the exposure alone.
This egrets offer a hard time to expose properly but I guess you did fine here. Whites are a tad hot as you mention so I would try to tone them down a bit. Dark BG helps the bird to stand out nicely.
I think the issue is not so much that the whites are too hot as they are lacking in detail. Although this version might be somewhat overcompensating, I've applied Dan Margulis' method for increasing detail in critical highlights, as well as boosting the color.
You might also want to consider a slightly larger crop to cut off the distracting green OOF strip across the top of the image and cloning out the OOF white stones in water.
John's attempt has really brought out the detail but also a blue cast. I would get rid of all the white blobs in the BG and the highlights behind the tail.
For the type of light you had I find the whites OK in the OP. It's the thick whitish hazy area in the FG that distracts for me...perhaps toning down that whole area would work well for the image, as well as removing the white OOF spots near the bill and at left edge. I like the lowish angle and the placement of the subject within the frame.
Hi Loi,
I am not loving this one!
The white spots in the BG are really distracting and I would evict them (if you are allowed to do so). I would also evict the specular highlight behind the bird.
I think the whites look OK in the OP but if you didn't slide the highlights all the way down to -5 in DPP I would do that first and then use Detail Extractor (DE) =/- some tonal contrast in NIK EFEX to pull out some more detail and structure. Your low POV is very nice.
What is the hazy stuff in the BG and in front of the legs?
Gail
White Egret Hunting
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