I thought maybe we'd have a change-up from all the bird posts (assume that's OK here in ETL) ....
So while looking for birds inside of the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge (MINWR), I'll get a chance to see alligators. It's just getting warm enough that they are coming out and basking in the sun in the later part of the morning.
I'm submitting a copy of my final, cropped pic, and then a smaller copy of the original so you can see where it came from. I'm interested in your C&C on the original picture (e.g. maybe over-exposed) but more importantly what you think about both the crop and post-production work in LR and PS.
So here is the final version ....
Sony a77, 300mmF4 at f7.1 at 1/1000 ISO 320
Sorry, I'll need to go back and look at my specs for exactly what I did in LR, but I know what I was trying to do was darken the alligator's skin from the original and brighten up the green grass around him. I think I ticked up Contrast, but mainly worked with Exposure, Highlights, and Shadows. In Photoshop I used the Healing Brush to remove a few stems of grass over the mouth.
Here is the original photo as it came out of the camera; no processing done on it:
So again, appreciate anything you have to say about either the composition or post-production work on either photo.
Reptiles scare me. I think the crop is a real improvement. If I were you I would probably crop a little bit more from the bottom to get rid of a sliver of OOF grass and the brownish thing at the bottom. I think you handle the exposure really well. If this was shot in RAW, the original was not an overexposure, you are just exposing it to the right. Two issues for me here and the second one is more like a nuisance than anything.
1) I think it back-focused on the scale about right in front of the front leg instead of on the face.
2) The grass around that same area is distracting. It is so much more in focus than the rest of the bunch and it cuts through the alligator.
Scary dude! Does look like the focus point was in the middle of your original frame. Its important to get it on the face and eye. The eye and nose are ahead of the focal plane. You rarely have as much DOF as you need and need to choose the most important areas to be sharpest.
Exposing to the right is important for keeping noise down. My first move is to lower Exposure then go to Shadows and Highlights, then to Blacks and Whites. Usually need to go back and tweak each several iterations. I rarely do much with Contrast but in a low-contrast image will go to a Medium tone curve and/or use a slight amount of Clarity which is midtone contrast.
Adhika: Thanks for your comments. I think you (and Diane) are absolutely correct about the focus spot. If you go back to the original photo, you can see that the spot you mentioned is in the exact center of the photo. I was concerned about getting as much of the gator in the frame that I forgot about focusing on the eye.
About the grass .... I was torn about it. On the one hand, it does get in the way as you mentioned. But, this is not a super-technical photo, and the grass was part of how I found the animal, and also gives a little sense of scale. I also did not like the big glop of moss -- tied to crop most of it out of the pic but a little remains. I debated about trying to clean that up, but again opted for "this is how he looked when I came upon him" ...
Diane, thanks for your second paragraph. I need to go back through several posts (of mine and others) where you have offered great advice like this. Clip this stuff out and keep it as a reminder on how to do a better job in post-processing.
Andrew, I think cropping a sliver of the bottom would be better than cloning them out. About the grass, I think what's bugging me is how it "suddenly" (I know it's not suddenly, but it's a rather abrupt change from bottom to top) became in-focus. ETTR really shines when you have to shoot at higher ISO. Of course when the light is low and the subject is moving, then there is trade-off between ETTR and shutter speed to get the shot (not necessarily image quality).
ETTR! I have been struggling with those 4 letters for a long time. But when you do manage it, your life will change forever. In my early years of learning I had the misfortune to attend a couple of workshops where ETTL was the thing to do, so you don't blow the highlights. I wish I had known about ETTR then. I would be miles ahead. So don't think your original image is overexposed...it's just right.
I like your alligator. I know lizards can be very hard to photograph because they are long and low. Do you take a head shot or a whole length body shot? I'm not sure how much room you had to move around this guy, but when I find a subject I really like to work the subject. In front, sideways, backways, on the ground. Take lots of images at different angles. I might consider cropping to just behind his elbow. This would show that nice green slime on his back. You have cropped the image quite a bit. This will affect the IQ. It would have been nice to see his foot. Agree with Adhika about taking a slice off the bottom.
You say you wanted to darken his skin and brighten the grass. I think I would certainly try to darken his skin, but rather than brighten the grass I would try and tone it down a bit.
Andrew, I don't want to hijack your thread with the ETTR discussion but I thought since Glennie mentioned it, might as well say it here. If I understand this correctly, ETTR does not mean blowing your highlights. I am not sure why the workshop teaches ETTL. It's true that most modern cameras could pull out shadow details more than it can recover highlights but I think it's a matter of placing your brightest spot on the scene at the correct exposure values(or zones). For my D750 that means the brightest spot on the scene should be around +1 1/3 to +1 2/3 on the (spot) meter. I still have about 2/3 to 1 stop before I clip the highlights on the raw file.
As a learning forum, it's excellent here to get into discussions on sub-topics. ETTR means as far as you can go without blowing highlights "too much." That's a tricky judgement and can vary with the image -- and camera. LR/ACR has a lot of leeway on highlight recovery, but beyond a certain limit there is nothing you can do. The blinkies on the camera are a quick and easy guide, if you have time for a test shot. That is from an on-the-fly JPEG so it depends on what the camera settings are, especially contrast. Keep that and the color settings pretty neutral, and watch your results for a while and you'll learn how much you can recover in processing.
Adhika: Yes, OK to talk about techniques here!!! You made a good point about how you expose to the lightest element and see where that ends up in your light meter. With birds (and not with this photo, sadly) I try to focus on the eye and get my reading from it, and that messes me up sometimes by missing the brights elsewhere in the photo. No reason I could not have done that here (along with focusing on eyes and not mid-body).
I'll post new pics with some of the edits mentioned and see if we can improve it a bit.
Keep in mind that most cameras are set so that exposure is linked the focus point. If you focus and recompose you may not get the optimal exposure. A quick look at the blinkies (if you have time) is the best way to judge whether you have overexposed too much, and the histogram will show more information about the overall exposure.
One thing I notice is that those blinkies do not necessarily mean the highlights are clipped. You have to check with your camera but in my camera, sparse blinkies indicate I am 2/3 stop from clipping.
Blinkies are based on the on-the-fly JPEG that is created on the basis of the camera JPEG settings. The different picture styles (Canon's term) and especially contrast will make a big difference. And ACR/LR will recover blown highlights to a considerable extent.
Alligator
