Good morning! first post for me on this forum, A Horned Grebe in the beautiful morning light on the calm waters of Lake Harriet Minneapolis MN. I like how its head was turned, I love their eyes and colors. I wish I could get the sun behind my more, but that is not an option, because of shadows from the shoreline trees on the west side of the lake. Other issues, it was pretty far away, so had to crop quite a bit, I hope I can get some closer before they continue on north. It was quite a bit under exposed, wasn't sure how that happened until I looked at my settings, and saw it was shot at 1/1250th of a second, way too fast for that time I day. My only guess as to how it got so far off, is I might have bumped it up to take a shot at a fly by Heron, and forgot to readjust when I saw the Grebe. oh well, good learning experience I hope! I tried to bring it up in light room one stop, and did some noise removal, shadows and highlights, so it might work for a smaller print I don't know. ~MT
Canon 7D
Canon 100-400ll at 400mm
400iso
f/6.3
1/1250
processed in Light room cc
Hi Michael! Welcome! So this is your first post to the ETL forum, correct? Well, your in the right place to learn how take better photos and the folks here will give you great advice.
Here's what I see with your photograph (and please note that I'm very much a newb here as well, so take what I say as only a possibility that others may or may not agree with) ...
For me, the picture is overall just a bit too dark to be a "portrait" piece, and a bit too light (like on the duck's head) to be a "mood" piece. As a portrait look, I wanted to see more and brighter colors along with more detail. As an example, I want to see what the feathers look like on the black area of the neck and on top of the head (need that detail!). I also wanted to see more of what the colors would look like on the bird's back and sides. As you know, the view is less than ideal as it is nearly head on, and we loose much of what would define the duck: proportion, colors, etc. You are already aware of the light coming in from the side vs from over you shoulder (ideal), but I certainly understand that we have to do as best we can in certain situations.
As a "mood" piece, well, that gets a lot more subjective. I like the coolness of the water, but it clashes for me with the brightness in the head area and the breast (right side). Not sure what you do to get this "moodier", again maybe others might have some ideas? (assuming you wanted to go in that direction).
As for post-production, a couple of thoughts -- I know you were trying to keep the reflection on the water, but would a crop that removed the reflection's neck and head work a bit better? Hoping others will chime in if they think that might work or not .... Also, I notice a bit of a light hot-spot on the bill that really got reflected into the water in two places -- I'd want to see if I could eliminate those spots as they are a bit of a distraction.
Well, enough of my ramblings, let's see what others with a bunch more experience have to say -- Won't be surprised if they tell me I'm off base on some things here .... :) Hey, that's how we all learn.
AP
p.s. I saw your intro post picture of the GBH and I really, really liked it -- maybe consider submitting it here as well?
Apart from the underexposure issue, I think this could benefit from a slight clockwise rotation. The circular ripple line around the grebe could be a start. What do you think?
Excellent discussion so far -- I may have about 30 seconds here until our daughter and son-in-law arrive at their house with the new baby, so may have to cut off mid-sentence and grab a camera.
Quick thoughts -- very nice pose!! With the 7D you don't want to underexpose, but rather use ETTR. Might have been able to go with a slower SS here to let in more light. But with the image you got, I'd want to raise Exposure and Shadows a bit if the noise will permit. The bigger the crop the more image quality will suffer, though. So maybe go for mood here, with a darker image. As dark as it is, I'm surprised that the highlight on the breast is so bright. Did you try reducing Highlights? But maybe it was blown out in the capture?
I don't mind the reflection but I'd be inclined to crop a bit off the top. If it's already cropped a bit you probably don't want to go much further, but you're the judge of that with the full-sized image. Hard to tell on the JPEG.
Look forward to the continued discussion -- this is a great group!!
Hi AP, thanks for your comments, I think you are right on with most of your ramblings. Yes, my first post!
I agree not a portrait, I would like to be closer to my subject for more detail, and a brighter exposure. As for the subjective mood, your comments are spot on...for you! :D I do kind of like the mood :) Good call on the bright spots, should be easy to remove, or crop out. Thanks for the comment on my heron image, I was thinking of posting, but not sure which forum. If you think it could use some help to bring out its potential I could post here. thoughts?
~MT
Hi Diane, I think your comments are right on. Way too fast, at 1250, when the speed should have been around 400-500, unfortunately, I didn't know my settings were off till the bird drifted out of range, ooops! I agree about the 7D I need a bright exposure to get decent images with the older sensor technology, but I have to mainly do it with decreased shutter speed, because I don't have a really fast lens, and the camera does not do well with higher iso. I all ready brought it up a stop in LR, I could maybe push it a bit more. amazingly the highlights were still clipped a bit even though most of the exposure was to the left, maybe this is an impossible shot to get technically correct, but I like the mood. ;) It is pretty cropped already, maybe I'll try trimming a bit more. Hopefully I can get some more Grebes at a closer and better angle, but I only have a couple weeks till they are gone north! Congrats on the new addition to your family :)
Michael: No worries on the "subjective" view -- see a post a while back of one of my "mood" shots; some liked, some did not.
And mood is something I'm striving to get out of my photos. Whether its a feeling of connection, or colors that give you a feeling, or a pose that brings a smile to your face -- that's what I want to try and capture.
Anyway, on you GBH, post it here in the ETL forum. It's a really nice shot.
Morning Horned Grebe
