I saw this young drake the other day and thought how handsome he was. He is, I believe, a feral. A mallard dumped at the waterhole I shoot at. He is like a "dusky" - no ring around the neck and he will most likely lose the chevroned feathering.
I liked the look of this bird the moment I saw him and liked this image from the moment I saw it. But there is certainly something not working, and I can't fathom what it is! Are the BG leaves distracting (I rather like them)? Is it the dark light in the FG competing with the light light in the BG? He does have a sheen of green and magenta on his wings and curly "boy" tail.
In ACR - Increased exposure by 1/4 stop and decreased (lightened) shadows. No other adjustments.
In PSC6 - Too many to mention, but settled on HSL Adjustment layer, a bit of dodging and burning to reflections. (Maybe too much?) A bit of eye surgery! Slight NR on BG. Smart sharpened for web posting.
I really like it Great light, love the ripples in the water, Love the position of the duck. Great shot! I think maybe whats bothering you is the crop? Maybe take a little off the top and see how that feels. I don't mind the BG leaves. Nicely done Glennie!
You've captured a lovely pose here, Glennie, and I love how the green of the surrounding vegetation is reflected in the water. I was thinking along the same lines as you before I read your description - that the dark foreground leading to the light background has a tendency to lead the eye to the background and away from the bird. As an experiment, you could lighten the bird and darken the background but that may be more than you would want to do, and it may ruin it. I like your comp. I can also see a version with less on the bottom and more room L and R, which may also help to keep the focus on the bird. Not sure if it needs just a bit more CWR. Thanks for posting. I always learn something from them.
Beautiful! I'd add more to the bottom and maybe increase exposure just a little. I like the BG but might add a gradient darkening (slight) from the top. I think I might like it if you left the light area in the UR -- I like it in the illustration of the crop frame. I might just darken it slightly and leave it at that. The darker, more saturated FG seems out of sync with the lighter BG.
I usually save a crop for PS, as you're not so committed to it early in the work flow.
One advantage of LR is that you can work with the full frame, (of a minimal crop) and then do a final crop (fully-editable) back in LR on the PS file. With virtual copies you can do several crops.
Hi Glennie, I had a go with your image in Lightroom and Photoshop Elements. I trust you do not mind my edit. Here's what I did... I thought your image as posted was underexposed so I raised the exposure +1.20 stops, I reduced the contrast -3 points, I reduced the whites to -30 and the blacks to -11, I also increased the vibrance to +29. In Photoshop Elements I added canvas to the bottom so I could move the duck a little higher in the frame. I also used the Paint Brush tool set to a opacity of 25 to pick up the primary color of the background and paint over and smooth the out of focus vegetation which I thought took away from the bird.
I think your image is quite wonderful, beautiful duck, striking color of the water and background. I wish I had been there to capture this image. I am not sure if you can do this in ACR but I do it all the time in Lightroom to begin editing an image. I hold down the Shift Key and double click Exposure, Contrast, Highlights, Shadows, White, and Black. That sets all of those to what the algorithms in Lightroom thinks the correct exposure to be. About 95% of the time it is a good starting point to edit an image.
Joe Przybyla
"Sometimes I do get to places just as God is ready to have somebody click the shutter"... Ansel Adams
Thank you Joe for taking the time to work on this for me...and I certainly don't mind the editing. I like the overall feel of your repost and makes me think again about the vegetation. I think my re-post is still a bit heavy. I didn't know about holding the shift key down on the sliders...only the black and white ones with the alt. key.
I like your re-post, Glennie. IMO the lighter background is complementing more and competing less with the bird and the water - lovely scene. Nice work.
Hi Glennie. I like the angle of the duck and I like the water very much. I'm a sucker for ducks in colorful water.. I think there are a few things that you could have done to improve your image. First, I am not sure which version of the Sigma you have but I have had the C since it first came out. I have found that under all circumstances that the lens is sharper when stopped down to f8. I think your shot is not as critically sharp as it could be if you were stopped down. Considering that you have given this a fairly large crop, I think that stopping down would further help your shot. I don't have any experience with the 5d2, but I am quite sure that you could have upped the ISO a bit to make up for the shutter speed you would lose by being at f8 as opposed to f6.3. Your results would have been sharper at say f8 and ISO 800. Would be able to crop more as well. Since the bird is angled towards you a higher f stop would have gotten more of the bird in focus. Keep in mind that as the distance to your subject increases, the depth of field is changed as well and more of your bird will be in focus.
As others have said, I think your shot is under exposed. You did not mention if you shot in manual or are using some sort of metering. I would shoot a scene like this in evaluative metering (for quickest results or manual if I had the time to mess with it and get the settings right) with positive exposure compensation. Your camera will be metering off of the darker water so you want to make sure that you over expose the water to get the proper amount of light on your subject. More light on your bird will result in more information in the shot and therefore more details to work with.
To me the repost is too bright and a bit washed out and the original and your rework are too dark. Only you know what you saw but I am pretty confident that the scene was somewhere in the middle of them.
I think the post would benefit with a bit more contrast as well. It will make the duck stand out more against the water and background.
When possible I also feel it makes a stronger image to be as close to the level of the water as possible. Shooting at eye level with the duck makes for a much more dynamic pose. If you were on a boardwalk or something this is a case where I would lay down and get as low as possible.
I prefer the image without the foliage in the background but it is fine either way.
The Sigma is the "sports" version and a relatively new purchase, so still experimenting, so your remark will be put to the test shortly.
I have ruined a lot of images with noise, so pushing the ISO is something I am still working with.
When the image was opened in ACR the histogram was pretty much in the middle, with a tad to the left. The bird was in and out of shadow, so good practice. I shoot in manual.
I know how good a low POV can be. The waterhole I shoot at has dropped considerably and the edges are a bog. I don't mind sitting, (or lying) in the bog, but due to my unco nature, I thought it prudent not to end up face first in the bog (with camera and tripod)!
Isaac, you have been very helpful and have raised some interesting thoughts! Thank you!
Good points from Isaac -- always nice to hear the characteristics of a lens. The Sport does have a very good reputation. But probably not mud-proof...
I'd try halfway between you last post and Joseph's. You have muted the colors quite a bit. I'd try Shadows to the right, and also Whites. And some Vibrance. Then Blacks left if needed. Maybe a touch of Clarity. After each move re-balance the previous sliders.
It seems a touch red -- maybe back off the Green-Magenta slider a little? (Toward Green, but only a tiny bit.)
I reckon he's a she Glennie ,hormone imbalance possibly? Did you hear a voice mate,that would be probably the biggest give away. It wouldn't surprise my if it's a cross aswell,but **** i'm on the opposite side of the world so this is very very hard
Glennie I'm a sucker for colour ,but love the pastel shades of the original ,I'm really torn here . There is an atmosphere to the original I really love Glennie,I can't comment on processing much as you know just a pair of old eyes, but I'm starting to feel how easy it is to go to far to overcook. Glennie all this might be cobblers,but i'm drawn more to your repost because it feels more subtle in the processing beyond anything else I think. Hard to put into words mate.
I love the image Glennie, I wish I could be here more and post more,i'm banking a few quietly though for when work slows or I collapse great to see your progress mate keep pushing
take care
Stu
Mutt Mallard
. I think there are a few things that you could have done to improve your image. First, I am not sure which version of the Sigma you have but I have had the C since it first came out. I have found that under all circumstances that the lens is sharper when stopped down to f8. I think your shot is not as critically sharp as it could be if you were stopped down. Considering that you have given this a fairly large crop, I think that stopping down would further help your shot. I don't have any experience with the 5d2, but I am quite sure that you could have upped the ISO a bit to make up for the shutter speed you would lose by being at f8 as opposed to f6.3. Your results would have been sharper at say f8 and ISO 800. Would be able to crop more as well. Since the bird is angled towards you a higher f stop would have gotten more of the bird in focus. Keep in mind that as the distance to your subject increases, the depth of field is changed as well and more of your bird will be in focus.
great to see your progress mate keep pushing
