Loud & Clear

[Andre Pretorius]

Captured this image in Auob riverbed, Southern Kalahari.

This Southern Black Korhaan was proclaiming his territory loud and proud.

Nikon D3S with 600F4
ISO 720
1/640 with 6,3

Yeah 720…..-Auto ISO with spot metering

[Richard Flack]

Fantastic image Andre! I think you nailed this one.

[keith mitchell]

Looks superb really well exposed and very sharp.

Keith.

[Barry Ekstrand]

Excellent exposure, nice detail in the blacks. Very and also a nice BG. The pose is great, you captured it perfectly - very well done.

Barry

[Marina Scarr]

This bird's call must have been deafening!!! Love the calling pose and comp.

[Alan Murphy]

Wonderful pose and detail. The mid tones could go darker for me.

[Girish Prahalad]

superb calling pose with great details & comp.

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi Andre, looks like things are doing well on the PP front.

Good techs, but not sure about the auto ISO & spot metering, however the BKG helps to 'pop' the subject nicely. Very much like the open/call beak. Wonder if it could stand a sliver off the top, WDYT? Would like to see it with some more midtone too.

TFS
Steve

[Carl Walker]

Super image Andre and lovely detail. Do you get SBK that far up as a matter of interest?

[Satish Ranadive]

Excellent image of calling pose. Nice lights and composition.

Regards,
Satish.

[arash_hazeghi]

I like the calling pose, good exposure too although it can benefit from slight contrast boost

TFS

[Andre Pretorius]

Thank you all for comments!

Carl, I have spotted them even further up, especially in the dunes, they are abundant, but never still!!!

Now the big question- I always get the comment "boost the mid tones…" , how? In curves you can go up or down with mid tones, lighter or darker. Bigger S curve brings contrast, but you loose detail in highlights and shadows. This seems to be most frequent comment and the least explained…..
Tried different masks, endless tutorials on google, still not satisfied, neither my audience.

Frustrated
Andre

[Alan Murphy]

Thank you all for comments!

Carl, I have spotted them even further up, especially in the dunes, they are abundant, but never still!!!

Now the big question- I always get the comment "boost the mid tones…" , how? In curves you can go up or down with mid tones, lighter or darker. Bigger S curve brings contrast, but you loose detail in highlights and shadows. This seems to be most frequent comment and the least explained…..
Tried different masks, endless tutorials on google, still not satisfied, neither my audience.

Frustrated
Andre

Andre,

In Photoshop, go to "Image">adjustments>Selective color> in the drop down menu next to colors, select "Neutrals". Now move the black slider to the right about 10%. That will keep the details in the whites and blacks but give the mid tones the dept it needs.

[Andre Pretorius]

Thank you Alan, I have been using the selective colour layer with the mask, sliding the black slider between -5 for whites when dull to +5 for neutrals, but the detail very often lacks?

Andre