Results 1 to 6 of 6

Thread: Common Grackle

  1. #1
    BPN Member
    Join Date
    Dec 2013
    Location
    Waynesville, Ohio, United States
    Posts
    1,346
    Threads
    226
    Thank You Posts

    Default Common Grackle

    Attached Images Attached Images
     
    Nothing special early morning light practicing my post edit I might have loss photo degradation. I resharpened and resized this at least a dozen times so not sure what it is going to look like.Had a hard time downloading.Question when resizing are you better keeping it as large as you can? Bird feeder set up


    Canon mark11 ISO 800 shutter500 tv 300 2.8 2x 600 5.6

  2. #2
    Forum Participant
    Join Date
    Feb 2014
    Location
    South Africa
    Posts
    1,298
    Threads
    112
    Thank You Posts

    Default

    Nice sharp shot, Kevin! I love these colors - never saw it before! Coincidentally on 'Who wants to be a millionaire?' a couple of days ago they asked what a grackle was (this was on the 500,000 pounds question and the guy eventually won 1m!). Now I know what it looks like!

    A little noise in the BG but it's not distracting at all (the BG colors actually go nicely with the bird's). Nice pic, well done!

  3. #3
    Forum Participant
    Join Date
    Mar 2008
    Location
    Santa Rosa, CA
    Posts
    9,587
    Threads
    401
    Thank You Posts

    Default

    Great catch of all the colors -- I thought they were just black but they must have a lot of iridescence. The BG colors are a good complement. Nice sharpness -- the catchlight is nicely round.

    There are two Canon Mark IIs -- the 1D or the 5D? There is a lot of noise, which degrades image quality. With the 5D2 at ISO 800 I wouldn't expect a lot of noise unless the original was underexposed and then brought up in post. Exposing to the right and then bringing it down in post will give less noise, if shooting conditions permit, but of course they don't always.

    I'm not sure what your question about resizing is. The only way to really get a sharp image is to get it sharp in capture and minimize noise by proper exposure. I do minimal sharpening to the RAW file -- just the raw processor default. If I then go to PS (or whatever image processor) I never resize the master file. For export to JPEG to post anywhere (either from LR, ACR or the Save for Web dialog in an editor such as PS), I specify the physical pixel dimensions most suitable to the final destination and keep the highest JPEG compression setting that will give a file size that isn't too big. (Here there is a 1200 x 900 pixel limit and 400 KB file size limit.) I'll have a look at the final file and if it doesn't look right I'll change the sharpening setting in the export dialog and redo it. (Some sharpness will be lost in resizing but the sharpening compensation can be overdone, too.) If that isn't enough you can do a very careful sharpening on the JPEG itself -- Smart Sharpen or Unsharp Mask with the smallest radius and low amount.

    When you say you resized and sharpened several times, I assume each was a separate step going back to the master file -- and, of course, not overwriting it, but done on a derivative file. You don't want to do things like that sequentially, one on top of another.

    It should be very straightforward. With a good starting file there shouldn't be a big issue. If there is, I'd look back at my post processing, or consider that the original file might not be the best.

  4. #4
    BPN Member
    Join Date
    Dec 2013
    Location
    Waynesville, Ohio, United States
    Posts
    1,346
    Threads
    226
    Thank You Posts

    Default

    Thanks Tobie for the comments and a interesting story. I think I actually introduced more noise in post edit. I also enjoy looking at your pictures. Thanks again

  5. #5
    BPN Member
    Join Date
    Dec 2013
    Location
    Waynesville, Ohio, United States
    Posts
    1,346
    Threads
    226
    Thank You Posts

    Default

    Thanks Diane for the help . The original exposure was fine but when i went to post edit and tried to submit the file was too big and I kept resizing about 14 times and i resharpened the same image . The more I went the more frustrated I became and it got to be more about being able to submit the file and I wasn't worried about the quality so much . I could get the file size down but would still be over the 400kb. So I think the resharpening after the original was creating more noise in the background, Originally I did do a mask and invert so I was just sharpening the bird. I will finally figure this out .Thanks again

  6. #6
    Forum Participant
    Join Date
    Mar 2008
    Location
    Santa Rosa, CA
    Posts
    9,587
    Threads
    401
    Thank You Posts

    Default

    I can relate to frustration! Just for interest, are you using Save for web in PS, or the Export dialog from LR?? If it's either of these, I'd love to see you go back to the original file and try various Quality settings for the JPEG until you get under 400KB. The dialog box in Save for Web will show the final size. Using LR, I have export set to a special folder on my desktop, where I can easily see the file size (then I move it where I want it). If it's too big I just lower the Quality setting and export again - it's set to overwrite. Then if that file isn't sharp enough I can set the sharpening parameters higher in either of those export dialogs, but that will make the file size higher so I may need to try again with a lower Quality. It is frustrating because the Quality setting will make rather large jumps in file size. (JPEG is an old technology that needs updating.)

    Some people will then open that exported file and do more sharpening (very low level) -- but I've found that by changing the export sharpening it's often not necessary.

    Once you have the system down and get used to the effect of the Quality settings, it shouldn't be hard.

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