Yellow-crowned Night Heron Galapagos - Espanola Island
Hi, please find enclosed an image from Galapagos this autumn.
Nikon D800, ISO 400, 500mm@f/7.1 and 1/1000 sec.
In Lightroom I've done basic stuff going from exposure to vibrance. I have also cancelled all sharpening in Lightroom which has instead been done in PS using Photokit's capture sharpening over the whole image, Creative Sharpening using Luminance Sharpening over head, bill and sharp part of the body and then some extra sharpening over just the eye. Then Curves with Linear Contrast.
The main problem with the image (even though I have better images of the Heron eating the crab) is the sharp reflections behind the head and bill (as I see it - even though I guess the head angle could have been better). I've tried to lower the impact by a layer in overlay mode filled with 50% gray which I have used to darken the reflections a bit. I am mainly curious if anyone has a better idea on handling the reflections in the background ?!?
Nice sharp image and I think you have done a great job considering how harsh the light is. As to the reflections you could try the clone tool or the smudge tool to reduce the effect just to see how that works. Here is an example, I used the Spot Healing Brush and the Smudge Tools to basically smear the reflections and then did some cloning from some of the areas of the rocks to add back some texture. The bright reflections on the darker rock above the bill were the hardest to keep from making it looked like I just smeared the paint!
A very nice image with an outstanding job on the sharpening! (The original capture was probably very good in that respect, too.) And I like Warren's BG fix.
I would have tried to treat it with lower contrast (more shadow and highlight detail), but maybe not very successful in the bright light. I think a gradient burn from the bottom could be a nice touch.
Yellow-crowned Night Heron Galapagos - Espanola Island
