England feels like the rain will never stop,fortunately the vale(of Evesham) so far has been spared the floods. Wanting to think of warmth and sunshine I've dug out something I took early last year,at the end of a glorious day. For me these dying seconds of the sun, the warmth the almost hazy light speaks of a one of those rare VERY special days we get here and make no mistake they are special.
So beyond the need for warmth and sun the photographic side: this is shot almost into the sun,I had to move slightly as the beasties were almost invisible ,plus i'm slightly wary of pointing lenses at the sun however low in the sky she is. I have no real ball parks on what is possible when shooting almost into the light. This was shot with my little 550D a canon 300f 2.8 is and 2Xiii extender. I tried to overexpose partly ettr and partly thinking this is like a dark bird against the sky. I'm seeking advice on how to deal with this situation in the future as a first point of call I feel at some stage I'll get this chance again and would like to up my game or leastways have a better idea in this situation. I posted this elsewhere and one reply really had me thinking he suggested going the other way and underexposing for that "ring of fire" look on a silhouette. I'm going to post two images again one was my original crop and one full frame with the exposure dropped just as an exercise in what might have been or shall come to pass,if you like. I think I should have come back on the f from 8 to 5.6 as the shutter is I believe way too slow(1/80),but beyond that I'm sort of lost as to what could have been done,iso at 1600. The picture was taken deep in the cotswolds,one of my haunts where we encounter Roe regularly,at the moment it is just a wonderful memory shot,at one stage I had a hare chasing this buck,he he why? cracking to see though ,but they were both going away and it was only later I got the chance of the buck and doe incidentally, facing me.
These are processed in DPP3 nothing further as I don't yet have more options. I guess again i'm questing for what I can do in camera rather than post,but I'm just so grateful for anything help wise it would be lovely to know what could be achieved in post to add to the first steps of locking down what the camera can and cannot do. The camera is handheld, leastways no tripod,i'm working off a dry stone wall maybe a foot or so high,this was also my cover bar the usual head to toe camo that works for me when stalking
First up the cropped image and second the full frame with exposure pulled back. Oh now having the 1Div I have moved on a little bit with my focus point selection please forgive the center point.... ahh its so cool having all these focal points now.
Hi Stu. Lovely capture. I looked up the Roe's and found they are very small and quick, so you have done well.
I love shooting into the sunlight myself but struggle with making anything much out of the images I take so, I'm not going to be much help. (Have a look at my post "old doe" in this forum. Diane has given some wonderful advice.)
Your shutter speed was slow, and I certainly would go no lower, but you've managed to capture him when he was still. Well anticipated! When I shoot into the sun I use "spot" metering. I don't think you mentioned that.
The image seems to be made up of mostly reds and yellows. I would be tempted to desaturate them both and add a little contrast. I've also darkened his face to show off his features. I would be tempted to tone down the bright white spot on his tail. All these things are subjective. You were there, I wasn't. So in the end, it's what pleases you.
I have about 5 seconds for a rushed answer here -- will be back later but instead of desaturating colors, the main issue here that you have any control over in post is the color balance. Warmth is nice but it has cost you a lot of detail. Play with it first and see what you think.
The other issue is the tonal range on the deer. Front light into the lens really reduces contrast. Sometimes you can shade the lens more than you think, but not easy with a big lens. You can see the difference through the viewfinder, though. Having hte front element absolutely clean will help, too -- and no filters.
You're asking a lot of both your camera and your raw converter with this lighting.
Glennie Diane ,sorry for the slow reply,not only am I busy ,but Glennie I've been trying to digest Diane's suggestions on your old doe thread. Incidentally Glennie,I LOVE your old Doe ahh mate you did so well especially compared to what I have above here. That said I know how much I have to learn and hope with time I'll be able to measure up. I love this lark having always been out chasing animals adding the camera and trying to capture what we see is so much fun. Glennie I seem to be able to put us in these positions often ,that side is ok but always knew this one in particular is a work in progress. I have a long long way to go Glennie !!!!!You have definitely enhanced my image mate the detail is way better but I'm am struggling with the colour as these guys can be almost orange in summer coat,trying to keep that warmth is not easy I fear. But mate i'm so grateful you would bestow your time on me. The tip about spot metering had not occurred,to me at all,cheers for that one. So regardless of whether you struggle too you have been a great help.
Diane ha five seconds maybe,but i've still learnt alot from your post. First up thanks for the practical things,keeping the lens spotless is always a good reminder,the words on shading the lens if possible a great help, no, I don't have any filters on the lens but still useful words for me.I had come to that conclusion that this situation is demanding of the camera Diane but no idea really where the ball parks are or how to deal with a similar situation,I did wonder if there might be a crucial time as the sun drops where the light almost balances ie the back light not quite so strong.
Yee gads I'd really forgotten how little Dpp3 has compared with 4 I need to spend more time trying to work out if I can do anything more. I had changed the white balance from daylight when shot to shade basically trying to get that warmth.do you mean this is what has cost me the detail? Diane I appreciate how shooting in this way causes the lack of contrast in the shadows ie the subject. I noted you have pulled back the highlights and boosted the shadows in the screen shot of Glennie's wonderful old Doe ,but I can't grasp why you pulled back the contrast,is this based on the overal image making the buck lighter and background slightly darker so when you take it to the next stage one has a more even tonality where one would work on the buck on a separate layer? Diane I'll stop there for the moment I don't really see this as other than a work in progress I like my image for the memory,but little more. But there are a few things like spliting the histogramme into RGB I want to try and play with for longer,I'm very slow learning mate I do apologise .
Thanks so much both, much to ponder and some great tips to take on board
I've always found setting the WB to shade (or almost any of the other presets) gives a color cast that is way too strong for my tastes. I'll usually shoot with daylight set in the camera, or auto if I don't need consistency through a shoot. And those are my two starting points in raw conversion. Then I'll fine tune as desired with the temp and tint sliders, and will use the gray eyedropper if there is a suitable area in the image that should be neutral, but that isn't often the case. For many images, though, you don't want a neutralized WB. But it's a place to start, and then tweak it as desired.
A strong color cast does reduce contrast and detail.
No matter how optimal I can get an image in camera, I find a powerful raw converter to be an indispensable ally. It usually takes me just a few seconds to optimize an image, and when I click back and forth in the history (a Lightroom feature) to the state it was in as it came into the raw converter, I can see the improvement very dramatically.
Thanks Diane even at this early stage in my learning curve I can see what you are saying about the raw converter. Thankfully my 1Div is supported by the new DPP 4, which for me at least seems on a different level to the older mark 3 version. So as I move forwards most of my images will have that option of conversion as I'm now using the mark iv almost exclusively. Yes I use that comparison feature alot to try and check my self. I know you use light room,but for now i'm happy trying to wade through DPP4,in no way do I feel I have mastered it,but I do like it and feel it might be the way forwards for me.
Thanks for your thoughts on this Diane in no way am I kidding myself about the quality of what I've posted here,but your efforts have not been in vein I've learnt much from this exercise all basic but exactly what I was after. Must dash the sun's just about to pop it's head over the wolds I'm off to practice
Roe buck
one was my original crop and one full frame with the exposure dropped just as an exercise in what might have been or shall come to pass,if you like
. I think I should have come back on the f from 8 to 5.6 as the shutter is I believe way too slow(1/80),but beyond that I'm sort of lost as to what could have been done,iso at 1600. The picture was taken deep in the cotswolds,one of my haunts where we encounter Roe regularly,at the moment it is just a wonderful memory shot,at one stage I had a hare chasing this buck,he he why? cracking to see though ,but they were both going away and it was only later I got the chance of the buck and doe incidentally, facing me.
IMG_0658 by Stuart Philpott, on Flickr
IMG_0658 by Stuart Philpott, on Flickr
