Hi all hope its courteous to introduce oneself here. I am a somewhat experienced wildlife photog enthusiast from SA, always eager to learn and very happy with critique and correction. I intend to join in time once I have looked around a bit more, but have come here having noticed the constructive commentary that I believe is a key to progress in the art. I like what I see of your 'culture'
I'll start by posting a recent oystercatcher shot and , hopefully, let things develop from there....
Regards and thanks
Dave.
1D4, 200-400 at f8, iso 800,1/400,+1 2/3. some cleanup of rocks, bills, and a ring removed from one birds leg.
Hi Dave -- Welcome to BPN!! You have found a great place for learning and sharing! Don't be shy about commenting on other images -- that's also a great way to learn.
What a very cool image! I like the image quality, processing and crop. My only critique might be to see how you can do at removing or lightening the dark area in the lower right -- not a big deal, but something many people would have a look at.
Looking forward to your participation and many wonderful images!!
This is a wonderful image! Exposure looks great. Pose of the birds is excellent (TWO good "head angles"!) Other than Diane's suggestions about the lower right corner... I'm loving it!
Thank you folks, appreciate your comments. I somewhat stupidly it seems darkened that corner more than ever with a gentle vignette: I am going to have a look at another version with your advice taken, thanks
D
Fantastic pose with the near symmetry between the birds - very unusual and all the better for it.
If this is an example of your work, then I look forward to seeing much more. This can be a very demanding forum to post on, quite a tough crowd (!) but the end result for me at least has been a heck of a lot of help, and a big improvement in my work, and more things learned here than any other forum I know of
Thanks Mike, I love the crits - not shy! Thanks so much. This is certainly my work, but heck, definitely one of my better recent shots I knew no less would do! Exactly what you mention is what I am looking to achieve!
D
one of my favorite wading birds on the west coast, great symmetry of the capture and composition I also like. Knowing the birds on the west coast, was there much color adjustment to the legs and bill? They are a little bright compared to our birds
Thanks WIllie. I went back and checked the raw images from this shoot. Only colour tweak was vibrance +10 in LR, nothing else.
They are pretty vibrant straight out of camera.
Ours are always just plain black, none of the variation you see on your coast.
D
Dave, I'm not sure how experienced you are with color management, and I definitely don't know these birds, so no criticism there, but just a thought on color. With digital, what comes "out of camera" is actually what is interpreted by the raw converter. There is generally not a lot of variability between different converters, but there can be a significant difference between the different camera profiles that the converters use. Adobe Camera Raw and Lightroom open a file by default with Adobe Standard, which (at least with Canons) can oversaturate reds and yellows, sometimes badly. (I've heard it tends more to blues and greens with Nikon files.) Different profiles can be set in camera but they only apply to JPEGs. In LR / ACR there is a Camera Calibration tab which has several profiles to choose from -- generally good emulations of the camera's profiles. Some of them are awful (equally so with DPP for Canon users) and several will give calmer colors in some cases. If a color appears too saturated or without detail in the initial raw converter, it's worth a look at the profiles. It's better to start with a more subdued look and increase things as needed. And there are individual adjustments for different colors in the HSL panel.
thanks Di, I know too little about colour, and will look at those tabs. I have certainly really struggled in the past with red from my 1D4: almost impossible I found to deal with the head of a red bishop for example, totally oversaturated straight OOC. Thanks for the heads up.
D
I'll bet checking out the camera profiles will be a small miracle. They shouldn't be so hidden. Along with Vibrance and the HSL section, you'll have some very powerful tools.
What a lovely image - I like the composition, very much! Good choice of DOF and wonderful detail in those feathers, this is nice and sharp:)
Dave, you obviously have experience and just looking for more feedback here on BPN, for that reason it would be great if you gave more details about your software when you upload your images in this Forum and described your processing steps (e.g.. percentage of crop, modified exposure, levels, curves, saturation, contrast, burn, dodge, etc.)
Following on the conversation you had with Diane above, I too humbly suggest you try experiment with shooting in either Neutral or Faithful. The RAW images you will download will not look that great at first, but you can do so much more with them in Photoshop. The sharpness will not be too high (at first they might appear quite "soft"comparing to what you are used to), the saturation will be lower, also contrast. Try bring down sharpness completely in your camera settings, you can always sharpen later. Contrast too, for it tends to "choke" the blacks. Saturation is up to you, the image above does look a tad oversaturated so perhaps bring that down a notch or two. Less risk of overexposure and saturation and your images will still retain lots of detail.
I cannot wait to see more from you and it is great to meet another South African here on BPN. I truly enjoyed this image and found the presentation so pleasing, kind of playful with the two birds looking in opposite directions and that BG is just awesome:)
Thanks so much Gabriela. Appreciate your helpful comments. I plan to join properly soon, just currently overwhelmed with work commitments so very quiet on the photography front. Sadly, just a hobby for when there are a few spare hours! That this is a great place for learning , that much is absolutely clear!
Dave.
But a side note here - sharpening and contrast set in the camera will only affect JPEGs, including the one displayed on the back of the camera. If you shoot raw, no matter what color space you have set in camera, you can change it non-destructively in the raw converter. Best to set it to one that gives a reasonable histogram on the camera, for checking blinkies. And then in raw conversion, set one that gives good but subdued color. You can increase saturation or Vibrance (= contrast) much better than trying to reduce it if you have a poor color profile chosen.
two oystercatchers and a new member
I knew no less would do! Exactly what you mention is what I am looking to achieve!
