Yellow Headed Black Bird

[Krishna Prasad kotti]

Hi All,

This image was taken at Provo Bay, Utah


Nikon D500, 500mm f/4 + 1.7xTC II
ISO 800, f/6.7, 1/5000 sec

Post Processing:-
Noise Reduction - Neat Image
Removed a small brown branch at the bottom right corner - Photoshop
Sharpening


Let me know your comments/critiques.

Thank you for watching.

[Daniel Cadieux]

The rich light and spread tail make this one for me. I'm wondering if the very darkest blacks could be opened up a bit. I'd probably smooth out the subtle vertical streak touching the top of the head, but the image is really quite striking. Perfect head angle with that pose!

[Krishna Prasad kotti]

Hi Dan,

Thank you for the comments. I agree we can open up the darkest Black. I should have opened that up a bit. But I liked this image the way it was capture so did change it much.

I had to increase the exposure in post processing by 1 stop and hence reduced the backs as I thought it will increase noise.

Below are my Lightroom settings and Photoshop settings


Thanks
Krishna

[Isaac Grant]

Sweet shot. On my recent trip to CO which you know about I finally saw my first ever male yellow-heads. Saw about 300 of them and even got a few shots off but none that I think are keepers. I agree with all that Dan said re opening the blacks and I would clone out the streaks above the head for sure. Otherwise you have an excellent topside view, spread tail and a nice look back.

[Krishna Prasad kotti]

Thank you all the comments.

I had a difficult time removing the Streak above the head. Any pointers on what is the best way to do it ?

[Michael Thompson]

Great shot! love the tail display and look back eye contact. I fonder if f/8 would have given you a little sharper in the tip of the wings. the best way I know of removing the streak would be the clone stamp too in photo shop. you might be able to use the spot remove tool in lightroom too.

[Geoffrey Montagu]

Lovely capture, Krishna. A bird I would like to see. You've captured nicely the dorsal view, head turn and fanned tail. Hope you don't mind my quick attempt at removing the streaks.

In CS6 I used: Quick Select Tool for top of head, then select Inverse, Spot healing, Healing brush, Brush tool, Clone stamp, and a bit of Blur.

Geoffrey




http://500px.com/geoffreymontagu

[Isaac Grant]

I think the best way to clone out anything that is near or touching the bird is as follows. Carefully select the bird ad then put it on a separate layer. CTRL J on a PC. Then go to the background layer and select the clone tool. Use a soft brush at around 30% hardness and clone. You can go right over the bird and it will be a clean job as the bird is on a separate layer so it won't actually do anything to the bird. When satisfied, just flatten the image and then keep on processing. Let me know if you need further clarification.

[Krishna Prasad kotti]

Thank you for the info. I will try it out.