I hope folks aren't too sick of the Butcher birds. They are proving to be friendly birds that don't mind hanging around my yard and are convenient to shoot when I am unable to get out. I'm sure they can teach me a lot!
Young Butcher - Not keen on the pose, or the perch, but more an experiment in technique.
Histogram is prior to any adjustments. Taken at 7.45 am. I have pushed the IS0 to 2000, but the histogram is still more on the left than the right. A couple of bright spots on the shoulders and legs. The small "crop" image shows the SOC file.
Canon 5D2
Sigma 150-600mm Sport @ 600mm
1/640 sec @ f6.3
ISO 2000
Tripod
Evaluative metering
In ACR I have reduced the exposure by a third of a stop. Highlights and whites both -100. Should I have reduced the Exposure to get the same result? But watching the histogram move to the left, I thought it prudent to try the other sliders. Changed the temperature slider to a tad warmer. A smidge of clarity and vibrance. No HSL.
In PSCS6 - H/S Layer, cropped, branch cloned out. A bit of burning to legs and branch. Topaz NR on BG. Resized and smart sharpened birds breast only.
Hello Glennie,
Young Butch looks good, nice angle to head.
Quite an improvement with the rhs branch removed.
I like the way you and some others are posting the image ex camera for comparison.
Can't offer any processing suggestions as I'm only a novice and you are way more experienced in that field than I.
These fellows can get quite tame, cheeky even.
Had a family of them around some years ago who would take small scraps of meat midair. Very acrobatic flyers.
Potential for some in flight shots. Trouble was they decided it was easier to take the meat from the hand.
Young one would sit outside bedroom and practice his song of a morning. Wife of the time used to whistle it back to him and add a bit of her own on the end. The young bird copied the modified version, must have confused its fellows.
Based on the inset you could have reduced the Exp, as there appears to be some blown whites on the top of the leg, so may be -0.33 EV, or at least a third of a stop less than what you have exposed at. Might be worth adding the EV when you post within the Exif data.
These sound like fun birds to have around -- and wonderful to be able to teach them a new song!! It may be widespread by now!
The image looks fine (and nice BG cloning) but I've never heard of moving the whites fully left -- or even any amount left. Don't be a slave to the histogram. Most of it is from the somewhat (relatively) dark BG. Go by blinkies when shooting instead. If you blow whites too far they can't be recovered.
When you get in ACR, work from the top down in the Basic panel. First look at WB as that affects everything.
Set Exposure first, with an eye to the midtones. Then if you have exposed to the right and have hot whites, tame them first. If necessary reduce Exposure, then reduce Highlights. If whites start to go gray, back off one of both of those. If the histogram doesn't reach all the way to the right edge (or almost all the way) you can add a little + to Whites. Don't go negative with that slider.
Then look at darks -- if they went too dark move Shadows right. If there should be blacks but the histogram doesn't reach the left edge, move Blacks left. But be judicious in all moves and balance them -- moving one may necessitate revisiting earlier moves. It's really very easy with a little practice. The average image should take maybe 30 seconds for this initial tonal balance.
Last edited by Diane Miller; 02-07-2016 at 01:43 PM.
I like that the color of the bird's iris is quite close to the orange of the perch. And that your repetitive subject is encouraging Diane and Steve to reach into the particulars of post processing. This is a strong learning series for me. I'm trying to think of some way I can help you with this, but you're ahead of me here, and the best I can do is to offer encouragement. TFS.
Paul - Thank you. They are becoming very friendly, very fast, and I am aware of how cheeky they can get. I also fear for the safety of other smaller birds if they decide to hang around too much. Catch 22.
Steve - Yes. I think it did need that much. I did reduce the exposure by about a third to get the posted image. I thought by reducing the highlights for his blown leg and reducing the whites on his almost blown body. I have a lot to learn. I'm really, just looking at the image and seeing what makes it look better. Where can I read the EV data? I can't seem to find it.
Diane - Thank you. Helpful as always. But this is starting to do my head in. Just for the sake of experiment I have posted another BB SOOC with no adjustments in ACR (apart from a dust bunny removal). Taken on the same morning. The SS and ISO (1/320sec @ f6.3 ISO 200) are very slow in comparison to the OP, but the histogram is similar and I have done no tweaking, sharpening, nothing. I don't think it would be difficult in making this a nice shot with tweaking. I have so much to learn.
Jim - Yes. Repetitive. Unfortunately for everyone who visits this forum. Diane and Steve are so enthusiastic about their craft. I just wish I could put all their teaching into practice and produce something decent. I thank you for your kind words and encouragement.
A nice shot here, but needs a little adjustment to be its best. With soft light and good exposure you often don't need much adjustment -- but every image is different.
The basics that work in most cases are simple: Work from the top down in the Basic panel. Exposure here maybe up a little. Then Highlights down, then Shadows up -- all to taste and watching the ends of the histogram. Then look at Blacks and Whites. Nothing difficult there -- give it a try on this one.
Whites are generally not best to reduce. Use them to move the right end of the histogram. Highlights are to reduce.
Blacks are not generally best to increase (to go right) -- use Shadows instead and then pull blacks left if the left end of the histogram is too far right.
Pretend Contrast isn't there. Use Curves or Clarity to punch midtone contrast a little if things start looking a little flat.
Last edited by Diane Miller; 02-07-2016 at 05:11 PM.
OK Diane. I'll give this one a whirl. It seems so easy when you say it. I know the penny will drop. I have to go shopping now! I don't know why we can't eat grass.
Steve and Glennie - my understanding is that with all cameras except the 1DX if you shoot in manual, the EXIF data will not show the EC. If you shoot in any of the automatic modes including AV and TV then it will show where Steve has indicated.
This has come up before and I seem to recall the 1DX is the only one that gives that information if in manual. I shoot almost exclusively in manual and don't have the info on the 5D3, 7D2 or 7D. Can't imagine that earlier bodies had the capability and then it was eliminated with later ones.
Diane - thanks for coming back and correcting because your post sent me on a little bit of a chase too and I was about to come back and say I tried what you suggested but still no luck. My understanding is that the 1DX does show the amount of EC even for manual exposure. It records the meter reading in manual. There was a prior discussion of this in a thread amongst several people. I'm pretty sure it was in a Wildlife thread but can't find it right now. I think Artie had said he even asked Canon about it but it is only with the 1DX.
Bridge shows it in the little window Steve showed for autoexposure modes but only shows a dash for M mode.
Diane the screen grab was shot in Manual mode as that is how I always shoot, the dashes appear when the EV is at zero. I just looked at another image shot a few days ago, in the Metadata in PS when the EV is zero you get two dashes, in DPP File info it tells me that the EV was at zero too, but if Rachel is correct the 1DX only shows this which seems rather mad, but...
Another One
