This guy sat down right in front of us, screeching as if begging to be photographed. One might reason that it's too much of the same colour, but that does not bug you when you have a second or two to press the shutter! In fact, that actually works for me in this case because that causes the yellow in the bird's wing to immediately demand your attention, from where the eye moves to the bird's facial expression. Or what do you think?
The exposure looks a little brighter than in the pre-jpg version depending on which screen I'm viewing it with.
Nikon D600
56 mm
1/125 sec
f/2.8
ISO 800
Minor sharpening & cropping done in LR.
Nice catch -- I love parrots! I'd try a vertical crop to get rid of some of the distracting BG elements. Can you get more highlight and shadow detail with the Highlight and Shadows sliders in LR (assuming v4 or 5)? I'd look at some tweaks to the WB and tint, too -- looks more brown-magenta than I'd expect, but I don't know the bird.
Interesting scene, first impression was that it might be on a ship in harbour with all those highlights, guess the rope, the net and the parrot brought to mind Pirates. Anyhow, this is a nice capture-as Diane notes a crop variation might help, perhaps even a square with the bird offset to the left. Toning down the highlights in LR using either the global sliders or the local brushes with sliders built in would help also. For me, the glare from the painted wood is the major area of concern. Very nice!
This is a nice bird. I agree with Diane about trying to bring back the highlights especially on the yellow of the wing. I find brightness of the top left distracting and would crop most of it if this were mine.
Unfortunately cutting back on highlights did not achieve the required results so I've opted for the next clip taken of this bird, albeit at a much more severe crop and 1/640s. Other data the same as for the first attempt. I've gone for the vertical crop and cut back on the highlights. Diane I've tried various WB options to no avail. I think the magenta colouration is caused by a reflection of light from the pole (you're right, it's supposed to be much closer to grey). Any comments welcome, thanks!
OH YES -- SO much better!! But here's how to get rid of the Magenta. I may have gone too low with the Contrast but you get the idea. The gray eyedropper in the WB section, clicked on an area that should be gray, is the place to start.
Thanks Diane. Never ued the WB eye dropper before and it's quite an interesting excercise. No way of getting rid of the magenta in total, but here's my best shot at it.
Very nice! The Temp and Tint sliders will let you tweak further, as will the HSL sliders. Unless you have a clean area you know should be gray, it's all a guess and artistic license. And warm or cool light can make corrections problematic.
Tobie-I really like how this one turned out, it really is a nice image. My 2c fwiw, I'd crop a little off the top and I'd play with a brush for the bird when doing the wb adjustments, this way you're removing the reflected color cast but not altering the coloration of the post and rope. Again, this is a striking image you have created here.
Rupell's Parrot
