Ibis reflections

[Tobie Schalkwyk]

I saw an earlier thread with Ibises ("Ibises are beautiful too', if I remember correctly) and it was interesting to me because the dark version of these birds are hardly ever beautiful - until the light hits it correctly, that is. I bumped into this one when testing out my lens which came back from the Nikon repair shop. Not the ideal BG but I loved the colors reflected by the sun.

Shades lifted in the facial region in LR, BG blur increased a little in PS. Cropped to about 20% of the original.

D600
Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8 VR + TC20E III @ 240mm
f/4 | 1/1250s | ISO 800 handheld

[Greg Payne]

Nice capture of the iridescence. i like these colors and the background, while busy, complements it pretty well. I would love to see the face lightened some.

[David Kenny]

I agree about the face being lightened a little more if you can. Overall I like the shot. I don't mind the busy background as you are showing the bird in its environment at the time. Not all shots can have the perfect background.

[Tobie Schalkwyk]

Greg & David thanks for your comments. Originally the face was quite dark and I've raised its exposure some, but could not really decide where to stop. I've added a little more light in this one. I'm cautious of over doing it. WDYT?

[Diane Miller]

The face looks good to me -- good work! A corollary of Murphy's Law says faces are always dark and flat.

The iridescence is nice to see. It almost looks like too much glare, though -- I wonder if you can subdue the highlights in that area a little? It could bring out even more color.

[David Kenny]

Face looks great. Just a little lighter. Definitely not over done. The re post makes the eye stand out more. I like it.

- Dave

[Tobie Schalkwyk]

It almost looks like too much glare, though -- I wonder if you can subdue the highlights in that area a little?

Thanks Diane. Highlights brought back in general using a luminosity mask.

[Diane Miller]

Good -- this gives more color to the iridescence, removing some of the glare.