I've been away for a few days to a little dam not far from where I live, in the beautiful Scenic Rim. I expected lots of birds, and they were there, but always on the wrong side! I took lots of frames, but most were just too far out of range.
In ACR - increased exposure by a half stop.
In PSCS6 - One layer adjustment on bird, one on BG. NR on BG and big crop. Smart sharpened for web posting.
A very nice pose and lovely water! Frustrating when they are too far away, as a big crop isn't ideal for IQ. I can't judge that from the JPEG, so will leave it to you, from the raw file at 100%.
I'd move the bird just a little higher in your crop frame, to center it vertically, to give more room for the very nice reflection. There is much more interest there than in the top part.
I don't know the bird but is there some red creeping in? May be worth playing with WB a little.
I'd also have a look at pulling out a little more detail in the darks. I assume the bird is black, but I love that even blacks can be photographed with some detail these days, as long as tonalities are stretched so the very darkest tones reach black.
Thank you Diane. Frustrating to say the least. Three days, and I will end up with about three frames out of over a thousand.
The RAW file was one of the sharpest at 100%. I can see what you mean about the crop. I see what you mean about the red. The birds are certainly black, but not a "deep" black and their feathers are fringed in grey, so sometimes look a bit washed out. This was also taken lateish in the day, so a bit of that "golden" light may be present. (That's my story anyway).
I have a similar image. I'll play with that and see if I can get more detail in the blacks. Noise was not my friend. I think I'm pushing the boundaries with the ISO of 1000.
I see you increased exposure here. If you can overexpose a little without blowing whites, and then bring down the exposure in raw, there will be less noise. Easier to say than do in some cases. If you have time to check the histogram on the camera, it's a very good guide, as are blinkies. Do not use the overall brightness of the picture on the screen, though. It's brightness is not a good indication of exposure as it can be changed.
Black Swan
