-
Same Bird - Different Stick
I believe, at long last, the experiments with the Butcher birds are paying off. I wish for a little more eye contact and the light on his face, not his back.
Canon 5D2
Sigma 150-600mm @ 360mm
1/400 sec (a bit slow, but running out of light) @ f8 (I thoughtfully increased the aperture to make sure I got more of the bird in focus. Maybe I should have kept it wide open for the light?)
ISO 1600 (Experiment to see how far I can push without getting too much noise)
Tripod
The thumbnail bird is unprocessed. I've somehow managed to get rid of the ACR settings. But not too many sliders touched. I did move the temperature slider, and liked the effect; so that is included in the posted version. Exposure was increased a little and decreased shadows. In the HSL panel yellows and greens were reduced.
In PSCS6 - Curves adjustment layer on bird and stick and HS layer on bird and stick. A little dodge and burn. Cloned out dust bunnies. NR on BG, cropped, resized and sharpened for web posting.
C&C Always welcomed and appreciated!
Last edited by Glennie Passier; 02-11-2016 at 07:22 AM.
-
-
Post a Thank You. - 1 Thanks
-
Wildlife Moderator
If you are making progress in the right direct Glennie, are happy that things are making sense now in terms of shooting & PP, but ultimately you have achieved an image that is built on what you have learnt, that's all we can ask, just keep building and taking small steps, don't try to run.
Well done.
Steve
-
Post a Thank You. - 1 Thanks
-
Beautiful. I don't have anything to nit here. It's just amazing! :) I love that green background.
-
Post a Thank You. - 1 Thanks
-
Nice!! It's obviously getting easier!! Shooting specs look good. f/8 is probably good at that size in the frame. There is a limit to how much sharpness you can gain from smaller apertures.
By decreased shadows, do you mean lightened or darkened?
It may be a bit on the warm side -- you could have a look at the WB again.
-
nice work Glennie, love that perch! i enjoy and learn from your thinking process, thanks for sharing.
-
Post a Thank You. - 1 Thanks
-
Originally Posted by
Diane Miller
. There is a limit to how much sharpness you can gain from smaller apertures.
I didn't know that! 
Decreased shadows - I lightened them. There was a blue warning just under the wing near the tail.
Yes. It is on the warm side. I played with the temperature slider, and liked the effect it gave the BG. When I took it into PS I did a curves layer and used the eyedropper (grey one) to try and get the original colour back but then I liked the different shade. This is where it becomes a bit ethical/subjective/artistic? Folks who know young Butchies will probably think the colour is a bit off. I will have another look at the WB.
-
When you go to smaller apertures you get increased diffraction of light around the aperture opening, which makes details fuzzy. With a full-frame sensor this is generally considered to be significant at around f/13, although it is a gradual effect. To be noticeable it would depend on how much fine detail there is in the image. On an APS-C sensor, the "limit" is generally spoken of as more like f/11 or even f/8. So as apertures go smaller the DOF increases but it is offset by diffraction softening.
And of course at smaller apertures we have less light reaching the sensor so generally need higher ISOs and/or slower SSs, which make their own contributions to degradation of fine detail. Thus you often see the admonition to shoot wide open. I prefer to stop down a little if I can deal with the necessary ISO and SS. Many lenses are a little sharper stopped down a stop or two compared to wide open.
Lots of factors to juggle, varying with the situation, and the sweet spot can be small.
-
BPN Member
Beautiful photograph. I especially like your POV on a level with the bird. What do you think of a bit of a lightening on the head?
-
Thank you Diane! I think I understand that.
Jim - I've set the perch in a place that I can move around a bit. The sun was behind the bird's shoulder. I did look at lightening the head, and decided it looked more natural without it. She says after changing it's colour...
-
Wildlife Moderator
The sun was behind the bird's shoulder.
Glennie, you really want the sun behind you and as this is a set-up, you should be able to tailor the shot.
-
Steve - Still experimenting where to put "the stick/s". Depends on afternoon or morning. If I take an afternoon shot with the sun behind me, I get the house in the BG. (Work gets in the way most mornings. Three year Grandson gets my attention most afternoons. I'm lucky though, he likes to go with Grandma to "kill animals"...shooting birds!) The set up I have made looks like something out of Mad Max...and very heavy. It needs some fine tuning.
-
Make a big reflector (lightly crumpled aluminum foil glued to a big piece of cardboard!) and teach your grandson to aim the reflected light at the bird. Photographic assistants are very valuable!
-
Now there's an idea. A photographic assistant. By the time he's five, he will be teaching me a thing or two. I do like your other idea about the reflector. Maybe another stand (reflector holder) pointed in the right direction.
-
Wildlife Moderator
He's probably about the right height too and very affordable, Rates for the under five's are negotiable too I understand.
