fast food...

[annmpacheco]

puffins in flight were a challenge; there ought to be a speed limit! I like the warmth of this image but am troubled by the harsh white feathers on the chest, no blinkies, just too crunchy, maybe too big a crop as well... BG is a cliff side with rocks and plants.

Canon Mark IV
100-400mmII
1.4 tc

ISO 1000
f7.1
1/3200

[Tim Foltz]

Nice shot, wing position, prey, BG are all nice, My only nit is I would like to see it higher in the frame. Thanks for sharing.

-Tim

[arash_hazeghi]

nice and sharp Ann love all the fish and the nice BG. I'd also move him up a bit, the whites look a bit overexposed


TFS

[Arthur Morris]

The trick is to try to capture the images with the WHITE RGB values in the mid-230s, no higher. If not, try to do that during the RAW conversion. Any higher than the mid 240s and you will have serious problems showing detail in the WHITEs.'

a

[Glenn Conlan]

Good wing position and sharpness, higher in the frame as others suggested

[annmpacheco]

Sorry folks, no more room at the bottom, unless i added canvas, but looking at the whites despite how much i like the image, there isn't going to be a happy ending.
thank you for your comments and suggestions.

[Isaac Grant]

Do you use DPP 4? Certainly others who have already posted have more experience with it than I do, but as Artie mentions, you can do quite a bit with it before you convert to TIFF. I always follows Arties advice on the whites and never export to PS without having them below 240. Often I need to reduce highlights to -2 or -3 or reduce the exposure as well. Can always lift the shadows. I find the brightest spot on the bird, zoom in and check the readings in different spots to make sure I am below 240. Will on occasion go just above that but it gets much harder to have good details. That is the perfect kind of background where you should be able to add canvas with no problem.

[Kirk Benson]

Beautiful BG, nice flight pose, and a beak full of food... yes the whites are a tad bright, and I also would like to see it a bit higher in the frame... but it's still a lovely image Ann. Well done.

Kirk

[Robert Kattanek]

I'll play the lone wolf here who doesn't think the bird needs to sit higher in the frame, certainly not if it means adding artificial canvas. The bird's body actually sits a bit higher than centered, with only the wings stretching to the lower right, I would be quite happy with that.
Mind you, I would be quite happy with any in-flight shot of these crazy fast birds, so take that with a grain of salt maybe.

Regarding the whites, there's indeed a problem, not only on the belly, but also in the face just in front of the eye.
That said, overall I really like the tonality and colours of this shot. And still jealous of the in-flight.

Kind regards,

Robert

[gail bisson]

This is excellent Ann. The BG is to die for and the wing position is perfect.
I know the whites are a bit hot but they do not bother me much. You could try taming them in DPP,
Gail

[Glennie Passier]

Ann, I like the soft, warm glow of the image. The bird is in good focus, and I actually like where the bird sits in the frame. Some good hints for me on taming the whites, but I don't think they are a big deal here.

[Bill Dix]

This is a tough group. Yes, there are a few small spots of white in the 240s, but they don't really bother me much and could be fixed. The fact is, this is a notoriously difficult species to catch in flight, and you have gotten him nicely, with a good wing position, nice flight angle, a mouthful of fish, and a lovely bg that almost looks as if it came from a Michelangelo. I'd love to have taken this one. I would like him a bit higher in the frame, but maybe not worth adding canvas. I wondered if cropping from the top into a pano would help, but that would take away some of the nice bg.

[Arthur Morris]

Sorry to beat the dead horse, but with JPEGs and even TIFFs, WHITEs with RGB values in the mid 240s and even the mid 230s can be without detail, as they are here on the neck and the front of the face, the latter as pointed out by Robert Kattanek. Many times very bright WHITEs can be dealt with in post. Everyone here is free to like what they want to like, but for me, the huge contrast and the too bright whites here is an image killer. And yes, I know that photographing puffins in flight can be difficult. Ann, if you would like to send me the RAW file I would be glad to take a crack at it.

Our goal here is to help folks get better.

a

[David Salem]

I think this one looks awesome. I love the wing position and flight angle. The details and background look fantastic also. I think the exposure looks almost perfect to me and I took it into Photoshop and there're still plenty of details in the whites that are a little hot. Selectively reduce those and you got a winning image. Great work.

[Geoffrey Montagu]

It's all OKAY, Ann. You captured this speedy species with a mouthful beautifully, and have one of the most enviable backgrounds to boot. I agree the few brighter whites could be toned down. Like it as posted as well.

Geoffrey

[annmpacheco]

Sorry to beat the dead horse, but with JPEGs and even TIFFs, WHITEs with RGB values in the mid 240s and even the mid 230s can be without detail, as they are here on the neck and the front of the face, the latter as pointed out by Robert Kattanek. Many times very bright WHITEs can be dealt with in post. Everyone here is free to like what they want to like, but for me, the huge contrast and the too bright whites here is an image killer. And yes, I know that photographing puffins in flight can be difficult. Ann, if you would like to send me the RAW file I would be glad to take a crack at it.

Our goal here is to help folks get better.

a

Thank you Artie, as mentioned this is a big crop and some whites are toasted, but i appreciate your expertise and trying to salvage something here. The link:
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/2kp1rfb87...CIYCI0y-a?dl=0
Ann

[annmpacheco]

Thanks everyone for your comments and suggestions.

[Arthur Morris]

Here you go. I should have cropped to have the bird a bit far more forward in the frame.

#1: set your camera to create RAWs in Adobe RGB. That will put a _ in front of the file name.

#2: I am thinking that the WHITEs are much better with a simple DPP 4 conversion following my advice to get the WHITEs in the mid 230s...

#3: The BKGR especially needed NR which I applied with NeatImage as per the Post Processing Guide that I did with Arash.

LMK what you think. Questions welcome.

a

[annmpacheco]

Thanks Artie, appreciate your time: BG has improved with NR but i agree with you the whites are still too coarse because they were not below 230's before processing...
I'll keep in mind your suggestions and use em!

[Bill Dix]

OK. I'm a believer. Handsome repost. Just feels slightly on the cool side to me, but otherwise gorgeous.

[Arthur Morris]

Thanks Artie, appreciate your time: BG has improved with NR but i agree with you the whites are still too coarse because they were not below 230's before processing...
I'll keep in mind your suggestions and use em!

YAW. What you are seeing as the "coarseness" in the WHITEs has everything to do with the harsh light and not with the processing... The highest WHITE RGB values I found in the RAW was about 251--that should be manageable.

[Doug Brown]

Ann was kind enough to send me the RAW file last night. Her in-camera exposure was spot on, but she brightened the image in post and got the whites a bit too bright. Here is a reprocessed version I did this morning with some added canvas at the bottom. How do you like this Ann?

[Joseph Przybyla]

Lovely image, Ann. These birds have to be on my bucket list, unique and beautiful, such striking features. I learned much from this post, thanks everyone for taking the time.