Theme: male bluebird

[annmpacheco]

taken last winter on Valentines Day, a lovely couple arrived in my yard for only a few minutes, then went along their way. This is about a 50 % crop and processed in DPP. Being mindful of not sharpening too much, I sharpened only in DPP at strength #3 yet the head and breast look too "crunchy?" I also increased shadows in DPP +2 bc the head was too dark... Any suggestions would be helpful, thanks.

Canon 1DX
500mm
iso 2500
f 8.0
1/500

[arash_hazeghi]

the head does look crunchy

can you post the RAW file?

[annmpacheco]

the head does look crunchy

can you post the RAW file?

sure thing here is the link: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/2kp1rfb87...CIYCI0y-a?dl=0

[arash_hazeghi]

I'll work on it tonight

best

[shane shacaluga]

I hope you dont mind I tried my own version using CS6. Had never worked on a 1DX file before but at that ISO the lack of noise is quite impressive

Dont really know how intense the colours on these birds are so maybe I didnt make the oranges stand out enough

[Mike Poole]

On a works screen so won't comment on the techs, but a s a shot it has a lovely feel to it. The snowflakes are just a nice size, not too distracting, and aid the wintery feel. Nice little inquisitive head angle rounds things off nicely.

Mike

[Glennie Passier]

Very nice Ann! What cute little fellow. The BG colours compliment the bird nicely. The falling snow is a nice touch as well.

[arash_hazeghi]

Ann, I am sorry but this totally messed up again.

you are shooting in SRAW mode and ruining your captures. set your camera to RAW NOT sRAW.

check the manual or maybe ask Gail to helo you set your camera correctly.

best

[gail bisson]

Hi Ann,
I think Arash missed the fact that you took this LAST year and that was when you had your settings mixed up! Now that your 1 DX is back in your hands I am sure you have changed the setting to RAW.
Lovely image and the colors and the snow really make a lovely wintery scene. You are correct re: the head so what you need to do is back off on the sharpness till it looks correct to your eye.
There is no one recipe for every image although there are certainly generalities. I use Arash's DPP guide faithfully but then I always look at each image and trust my eye to tweak things. I have a feeling that the crunchiness came in when you did your output sharpening to the JPEG. Do you sharpen for output in LR or CS6?
Gail

[arash_hazeghi]

Hi Ann,
I think Arash missed the fact that you took this LAST year and that was when you had your settings mixed up! Now that your 1 DX is back in your hands I am sure you have changed the setting to RAW.
Lovely image and the colors and the snow really make a lovely wintery scene. You are correct re: the head so what you need to do is back off on the sharpness till it looks correct to your eye.
There is no one recipe for every image although there are certainly generalities. I use Arash's DPP guide faithfully but then I always look at each image and trust my eye to tweak things. I have a feeling that the crunchiness came in when you did your output sharpening to the JPEG. Do you sharpen for output in LR or CS6?
Gail

Most of the crunchiness is from the sRAW itself, not from her sharpening. SRAW uses a simple algorithm for downsizing, basically it just averages 4 pixels into one. as a result fine detail is turned into a coarse crunchy rendition. there is no way to fix it

best

[Karl Egressy]

Nice winter mood picture of this colorful bird, Ann. Love the pose and colors.

[Satish Ranadive]

Beautiful image. Nice pose and colours. I like the feel of winter in the frame.
Nice discussion too.

Regards,
Satish.

[Stu Bowie]

Hi Ann, lovely angled pose, and love the wintery setting with the hint of some falling snow. I like the colours on this bird, and sharpness mentioned.