Eastern Phoebe
Canon 7d11
500 f4 ii x 1.4
1/1000 sec, f5.6, iso 2500
Processed in LR and PS CC .Mostly just some Levels, Saturation and Smart Sharpen ( focus area).
Would appreciate anyone tips or comments . Thx
What a lovely capture of a gorgeous little bird! It looks sharp and nicely detailed. Some people will prefer the bird looking more toward the viewer, and that does help establish a connection with the viewer, but birds do look (and fly) away sometimes. The eye is nicely visible and I don't mind a different look once in a while. The viewer can wonder what the bird is looking at.
Although it's always nice to lave room for the subject to look or move into, here, with so much weight on the left from the post, I think the empty room on the right makes things a bit unbalanced. It would be more justified if there were some OOF branches there. If there has been any crop from the left I would restore some canvas there, unless there is a distracting element in the way that can't be fixed. Removing a little off the bottom would also remove some of the weight of the post, but would probably be best with a like amount from the top.
thank you Diane, I thought the same thing about leaving the space where the bird was looking, thats why I left more space, I was also looking at the detail in the perch, and must admit I like your crop better, I think maybe the "rules" got me , the thirds and the leave the space where subject is looking...
Yeah -- so much for rules! (This from a person who regards a stop sign as a suggestion -- as long as no one is looking...)
On second look, the whites on the belly are blown out -- have you looked at reducing them? If you have LR 4 or later, the Highlights slider can work wonders for bright tones. You may need to compensate with other sliders if that reduces contrast -- and the Contrast slider is the last one I'd use.
Hello Fred. What a sweet little bird. He looks as tiny as Ray Walker's Australian Splendid wren. Just like little flying mice. I do like Diane's re-post. Little birds on big stumps make for a difficult composition. Love the OOF BG and the detailed bird. IMO, maybe a slight anti CW rotation. Is there a slight blue cast?
Hope to see more little birds...or big ones, soon!
There could be a blue cast, I took this shot very early in AM and sun had just rose, I was shooting with it over my shoulder.Originally Posted by Glennie Passier
I always struggle with blowout highlights, it starts with my exposure in camera, I often shoot in Manual mode and nailing the compensation tries me. I tend to be a walk and shoot person, and this guy came out of nowhere.Ill try an adjustment and repost. Thanks again..
Heres another attempt, I couldn't find the detail in the blown out highlights, I tries both LR and a curves adj in PS CC.
Sometimes highlights are just too overexposed to find detail. When I'm trying to find some I'll start with all the sliders at default, and no auto adjustments (check that they're not enabled in Preferences or at import). I'll first reduce Exposure and see if anything shows up. If it does, I'll bring Shadows to the right and look for the sweet spot of balance in those 3 sliders. (The Shadows slider will bring out more noise than increasing the Exposure will.) If contrast gets low I'll add a little Clarity (midtone contrast.) I almost never use the Contrast slider; I'll use the Whites and Blacks rarely.
It's easy to see what a slider is doing by going too far with it then backing off -- it's all completely non-destructive until you go into PS or export, at which time the current settings are cemented into the file. That's why there is less leeway in tonal adjustments in PS than in the raw file.
Hiya Fred,i'm completely unfamiliar with this stunning little bird. I think you did wonderfully well to get this good a capture,I would have struggled with those highlights Fred it's such a shame when this happens,but all part of the learning curve. Fred I really like your last crop but would favour a bit more on the right. Thankyou for posting this Fred hearing Diane's musings on the crop has been really useful to me. Fred my monitor isn't calibrated many facets are not up to speed here but I see that same blue cast Glennie sees which I feel you have sorted in your final post. The background colours are lovely they sit with the bird really well for me.
Well done Fred someone new for me and a lovely take into the bargain
take care
Stu
Thank you Stu, I shot this guy in Florida, I was hiking to try and find some owls when this guy just appeared, I had the camera on tripod and it sat long enough for me to snap off a couple, but not long enough for me to get a few different ones. I did not know what it was until I looked it up later.
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