Common bird, but I liked the setting.
Canon 50D, 70-200 f/2.8 IS USM II, 1/250, f/6.3, ISO 400
Crystal Springs Rhododendron Garden, Portland, OR
LR4 + PS (Surface Blur on background, Contrast Mask)
You got a different pose than we usually see. It looks like focus may have fallen on the wing but the head seems sharp enough. The light is pleasingly soft and the rim light on the head and neck separate it well from the water.
I'd play with the Temp and Tint a little -- it seems a bit on the blue side. As much as I love soft light, I struggle with color balance when its foggy of cloudy.
I like the scene here. The composition is tough for me. The birds body is facing out of the frame and he is looking away from you. I think if he was looking back at you a little more that would have been more beneficial to the comp. I do like the lighting on the goose against the dark background of the water it really makes the feather detail stand out.
Forgot focal length, 140mm. DOF should be around a foot or so? Checked the original image and the top point was active on the beak at time of capture (but the 50D regularly focuses on something closer if it is close to the red focus point, it's bigger than the viewfinder display). RP, slightly warmed up the image and clipped the contract adjustment to only the bird layer. This is a crop, so I have a little more on all sides, any recommendations for different framing?
Last edited by Jon Pugmire; 10-21-2014 at 10:18 PM.
Reason: clarity on focus issue
I like it, but agree that the composition is a little awkward. I have lots of images of birds doing this exact thing and I never know how to place them in the crop. TFS
Hi Jon, composition, framing, POV, head angle etc all comes in time, it's an evolving aspect, not something you can really learn from a book as such, constantly look through the various arenas of BPN where you will get pointers direction etc to bolster your ongoing knowledge and understanding, even interact too, it's a great way to learn.
Looking at the OP Jon, and from the very simple changes to the RAW file of the Heron (which you now have, and previously posted) I still thing something is going a miss in the basics of the conversion. In this instance it's carrying a lot of blue and green, easily evident in the white plumage and saturated grass. Just keep it simple Jon, whether the monitor needs calibrating (should be done on a very regular basis), light hitting the screen, angle of the laptop if used, or you are adding colour back in when it doesn't need it and could be something so simple that is effecting what you see, to final output? Your initial capture of the Heron was very good and really needed very little adjustments, therefore I'm sure this is the same case here. Buying more software isn't going to help, you will only get even more lost, you really just need to build on those basics, however if you do wish to spend a few $$$ then wait until Artie & Arash have finished their Canon DPP 4 instruction and purchase that, as DPP is free, made for Canon and this could make ALL the difference in you conversion.
Jon, if you haven't already done so, have a quick read of these links.
Hi Jon, composition, framing, POV, head angle etc all comes in time, it's an evolving aspect, not something you can really learn from a book as such, constantly look through the various arenas of BPN where you will get pointers direction etc to bolster your ongoing knowledge and understanding, even interact too, it's a great way to learn.
Looking at the OP Jon, and from the very simple changes to the RAW file of the Heron (which you now have, and previously posted) I still thing something is going a miss in the basics of the conversion. In this instance it's carrying a lot of blue and green, easily evident in the white plumage and saturated grass. Just keep it simple Jon, whether the monitor needs calibrating (should be done on a very regular basis), light hitting the screen, angle of the laptop if used, or you are adding colour back in when it doesn't need it and could be something so simple that is effecting what you see, to final output? Your initial capture of the Heron was very good and really needed very little adjustments, therefore I'm sure this is the same case here. Buying more software isn't going to help, you will only get even more lost, you really just need to build on those basics, however if you do wish to spend a few $$$ then wait until Artie & Arash have finished their Canon DPP 4 instruction and purchase that, as DPP is free, made for Canon and this could make ALL the difference in you conversion.
Jon, if you haven't already done so, have a quick read of these links.
The only changes I made to this (underexposed) image are Exposure +, Shadows +, Whites -, and a little bit of the Clarity Slider +5. The RP here is completely zeroed out in LR and then exported. I did leave the White Balance at "As Shot", so it's as reported by camera AWB. No color changes were made from capture on the OP. That is what the greens looked like (it's why I live in the Pacific NW). If there is a bluish cast, it's from the overcast day and what the camera selected in AWB. I did adjust towards warm in the RP. I did make a contrast adjustment in PS, meant for the bird, but it did include the greens also, maybe that's where it went wrong?
Your processing was basic and good. I would have juggled exposure, shadows and highlights, then whites. The camera's AWB is only a good guess and can be less than ideal in cloudy or foggy light. I think a slight warming could be good but that's up to what you want it to look like. I doubt it will make the moss too bright.
I think you did a good job with an underexposed image in that light. That's the classic light for going to some overexposure.
Here's a quick try, pulling the JPEG into LR (best done with the raw file, of course):
Exp to +1.8
Temp to +7
Tint to -3
Highlights to -1
Shadows to +29
This brought out more detail in the body. I might have brought the blacks down a little in PS, masking out the already-dark areas on the "island."
Tried to incorporate what I've learned. Adjusted per Diane's suggestions (close anyway). Loosened up the crop to the left and top, I think it looks better--open to further suggestions/opinions. Found that hovering over any white areas in LR will let me see the RGB percentages which gives me some idea if WB might be off.
Canadian Goose
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Originally Posted by Steve Kaluski
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