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Hi Jon
Nice portrait with a good head angle and nice detail. I wonder if more sharpening would be an improvement did you sharpen the final file or before your final export?
To me I feel as though i am looking down on the bird slightly. Could you have got slightly lower? Also on you setting I think you could have got away with a larger aperture and still had the whole head within the DOF. This would have allowed a higher shutter speed as 1/100 seems a little low.
Iain
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Originally Posted by
Iain Barker
Hi Jon
Nice portrait with a good head angle and nice detail. I wonder if more sharpening would be an improvement did you sharpen the final file or before your final export?
To me I feel as though i am looking down on the bird slightly. Could you have got slightly lower? Also on you setting I think you could have got away with a larger aperture and still had the whole head within the DOF. This would have allowed a higher shutter speed as 1/100 seems a little low.
Iain
I used LR for export sizing and sharpening. I believe it was set for normal, I can try the high setting to see if I like it better, or go more aggressive in PS USM. I did not want the neck feathers to get crunchy.
I was as low as I could get (in the car--Acura sedan, shooting out the lowered window), I was seeing how close I could get, which automatically increased the shooting angle as I got closer. I was surprised how close I was able to get, which is why I started shooting portraits. During the non-summer months, this particular reserve does not allow visitors to leave their car.
The softness in the lower beak is because of movement (opening/closing). I've found that herons can remain so perfectly still that if I have the lens supported via bean bag or even just the car door with a jacket/blanket I can get sharp focus at 1/100. I took 30 or so frames, and about 20 of them were sharp. This was the sharpest with an open beak.
I was about 15 feet from the subject, f/8 is .24 feet (3 inches), f/13 is .4 feet (4.8 inches), I was concerned the tip of the beak would be out of focus if I opened much more.
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I love head shots like this and herons and egrets have such interesting faces. Good thinking on the shooting specs.
My only thought is that there is something of a blue/magenta cast on the bird. Adjusting WB might make the warmer tones too warm, but sometimes using Hue-Sat or Selective Color on the blue and/or magenta channel will neutralize things nicely -- or just mask a global WB change to the bird if it makes the BG too overpowering.
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It is more the area around the eye that I think might be able to be sharpened a little more, Possibly by doing it selectively in photoshop. Also when I mentioned your setting this was more of a general comment as I agree that in this image you have done well to freeze most of the movement at 1/100th. I do wonder if the slight lack of detail around the eye is caused by movement of the fine feathers. Related to this it is also worth keeping in mind that on a crop sensor cameras you will start to get refraction at aperatures smaller than f11 and your image will start to lose sharpness.
Overall this is a very nice image and my comments are only minor points. It will be good to see some other comments on the sharpness from more the experienced members.
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I like the repost and think you have improved the sharpness around the eye. Especially around the small feathers.
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BPN Member
Hi Jon, I like the intimacy shown in your photograph. And can imagine how excited you might have been. I agree with Iain's comments about the repost. Beautiful image.
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