Results 1 to 6 of 6

Thread: Cormorant over water

  1. #1
    Forum Participant
    Join Date
    Dec 2012
    Location
    Katy, Texas
    Posts
    197
    Threads
    51
    Thank You Posts

    Default Cormorant over water

    Name:  _W7A0071_s2.jpg
Views: 112
Size:  371.6 KB


    5D Mark III, 500 mm f4L IS II
    Manual mode, ISO 2500, f5.0, 1/1600 sec
    PP in LR & PS CC, Neat Image NR


    Out with the new 500 II at the end of the day, caught this cormorant after it took off of the water. It was cropped ~50% to eliminate ugly bank vegetation & position bird / reflection. I have shot cormorants before in Av mode and have had difficulty getting a good exposure, typically underexposed, leading to noise issues when I try to recover. This is the first time I used Manual mode on one and it was exposed to the right, I pulled exposure back a bit in PP.

    Any and all comments appreciated.

    Barry

  2. #2
    Forum Participant
    Join Date
    Sep 2008
    Location
    Southern California
    Posts
    2,173
    Threads
    219
    Thank You Posts

    Default

    Good job using manual, its always great to keep progressing your skills! I like the full wings down pose here. The soft colors are nice too. I would boost the contrast, the image is flat as a whole. You also should try some CCW rotation as it looks as though the cormorant is flying uphill.

    Looking forward to more!

  3. Thanks Barry Ekstrand thanked for this post
  4. #3
    Super Moderator Daniel Cadieux's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2008
    Location
    Ottawa, Canada
    Posts
    26,266
    Threads
    3,976
    Thank You Posts

    Default

    Yep, manual is the way to go with flight photography, especially if the light is constant on the subject. You could not have asked for a better wing position here and I like the fact it is flying so low to the water. Nice BG and FG. Seems a tad dark to me, and you can check the WB for some purplish cast on the feathers - likely a bit much on the magenta side.

  5. Thanks Barry Ekstrand thanked for this post
  6. #4
    Lifetime Member Stu Bowie's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2008
    Location
    Centurion, South Africa
    Posts
    21,360
    Threads
    1,435
    Thank You Posts

    Default

    Hi Barry, great flight pose with the full downstroke of the wings, and great that he flying low over the water.

    Before reading any of the above comments, I too felt the cormorant had a magenta cast. They are normally a blacker shade. Another vote for some CCW rotation too.

  7. Thanks Barry Ekstrand thanked for this post
  8. #5
    Macro and Flora Moderator Jonathan Ashton's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2009
    Location
    Cheshire UK
    Posts
    17,015
    Threads
    2,604
    Thank You Posts

    Default

    Lovely shot excellent timing, I haven't read previous posts so sorry if this is repetitive: I would suggest the colour is a little off - perhaps reddish/magenta cast, I would make the bird and reflection just a tad lower in the frame, also check the horizontal it looks a little out. I would consider a little more sharpening - do you sharpen in LR?

  9. Thanks Barry Ekstrand thanked for this post
  10. #6
    Forum Participant
    Join Date
    Dec 2012
    Location
    Katy, Texas
    Posts
    197
    Threads
    51
    Thank You Posts

    Default

    All,

    Many thanks for the feedback. I have taken another shot at it, this time doing the Raw conversion in DPP. The 'as shot' WB came out with the same magenta bias so I have adjusted WB a bit to correct for that. I also increased the amount of exposure to -.17 stops from original and gave the cormorant some CCW rotation as recommended. I do all sharpening in PS CC, normally using the Smart Sharpen filter. I may have missed doing a final sharpening last time after resizing, but it has been done this time. Comments on the repost will be appreciated.

    Barry

    Name:  _W7A0071c_s.jpg
Views: 19
Size:  378.7 KB

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •  
Web Analytics