Results 1 to 10 of 10

Thread: Oriental Dwarf Kingfisher

  1. #1
    BPN Viewer
    Join Date
    Oct 2017
    Posts
    87
    Threads
    16
    Thank You Posts

    Default Oriental Dwarf Kingfisher

    Attached Images Attached Images
     
    Hi everyone.
    I have seen some masterful images of this beauty posted here in the past.
    Hope to live upto the works of other luminaries here.
    EOS 1Dx Mk II, 500 f/4, 1.4X, 500 mm, f/5, 1/400/ ISO 1000, Spot metering, Manual exposure.
    Processed in DPP4, PS CC2017, Curves, sharpening, cropped about 40%.
    All moments & critique welcome.
    Thanks
    Abhijit

  2. #2
    Publisher Arthur Morris's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2007
    Location
    Indian Lake Estates, FL
    Posts
    32,557
    Threads
    1,438
    Thank You Posts

    Default

    Cool bird with cool crab. The white behind the bird is less than ideal and with the light from behind the bird the breast, and more importantly, the front of the face from the eye to the base of the bill, are in shade. I'd suggest a NIK 40/40 Tonal Contrast/Detail Extractor recipe to improve it (but there are many other ways to open up the face).

    with love, artie
    BIRDS AS ART Blog: great info and lessons, lots of images with our legendary BAA educational Captions; we will not sell you junk. 30+ years of long lens experience/e-mail with gear questions.

    BIRDS AS ART Online Store: we will not sell you junk. 35 years of long lens experience. Please e-mail with gear questions.

    Check out the new SONY e-Guide and videos that I did with Patrick Sparkman here. Ten percent discount for BPN members,

    E-mail me at samandmayasgrandpa@att.net.










  3. #3
    BPN Member Bill Dix's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2009
    Location
    Princeton, NJ
    Posts
    12,487
    Threads
    1,892
    Thank You Posts

    Default

    What a great looking bird. And good that you got a nice DOF to keep the crab in focus. Wonderful colors. Artie's good points noted. I also feel it is a bit tight in the frame; maybe needs a little more room on the left.

  4. Thanks Abhijit Deshpande thanked for this post
  5. #4
    BPN Member
    Join Date
    Jan 2014
    Location
    Lakeland, FL
    Posts
    7,533
    Threads
    2,043
    Thank You Posts

    Default

    Attached Images Attached Images
     
    Hi Abhijit, beautiful bird, wonderful crab for prey. I think Artie's critique and suggestion were spot on. As I am not familiar with NIK Software I did a quick edit in Lightroom and Photoshop showing the possibilities. My selections were quick and not refined but it will give you an idea of the possibilities this image offers. Thank you for sharing.
    Joe Przybyla

    "Sometimes I do get to places just as God is ready to have somebody click the shutter"... Ansel Adams

    www.amazinglight.smugmug.com

  6. #5
    Publisher Arthur Morris's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2007
    Location
    Indian Lake Estates, FL
    Posts
    32,557
    Threads
    1,438
    Thank You Posts

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Joseph Przybyla View Post
    Hi Abhijit, beautiful bird, wonderful crab for prey. I think Artie's critique and suggestion were spot on. As I am not familiar with NIK Software I did a quick edit in Lightroom and Photoshop showing the possibilities. My selections were quick and not refined but it will give you an idea of the possibilities this image offers. Thank you for sharing.
    Thanks for the re-post and the excellent job.

    Great job with the white area. How did you do it?

    with love, artie
    BIRDS AS ART Blog: great info and lessons, lots of images with our legendary BAA educational Captions; we will not sell you junk. 30+ years of long lens experience/e-mail with gear questions.

    BIRDS AS ART Online Store: we will not sell you junk. 35 years of long lens experience. Please e-mail with gear questions.

    Check out the new SONY e-Guide and videos that I did with Patrick Sparkman here. Ten percent discount for BPN members,

    E-mail me at samandmayasgrandpa@att.net.










  7. #6
    BPN Member
    Join Date
    Jan 2014
    Location
    Lakeland, FL
    Posts
    7,533
    Threads
    2,043
    Thank You Posts

    Default

    Hi Artie and Abhijit, regarding my edit... the first things I did was to take the image into Lightroom and sharpen it more. Then using the Adjustment Brush in Lightroom I brushed over the areas I thought need to be lightened and have the shadows opened, adjusting the sliders until it looked right. Then I took the image into Photoshop and using the Magic Wand I selected the background adding the different tonalities until the whole background was selected. Normally for an original image I would zoom up on the selection and follow it around adding and subtracting areas as needed. In this case I did not because I wanted to do it quickly for example to look at. I blended in the white/light areas behind the bird I used the Paint Brush set to a opacity of 40%. I selected the green color and brushed over the white background. Then using the same Paint Brush and opacity I selected the color of the darker areas and gently brushed some of the into the green areas where the white was to blend the background together. It could be done much better but I did it quickly to show the possibilities.
    Last edited by Joseph Przybyla; 11-17-2017 at 06:07 PM.
    Joe Przybyla

    "Sometimes I do get to places just as God is ready to have somebody click the shutter"... Ansel Adams

    www.amazinglight.smugmug.com

  8. Thanks Abhijit Deshpande thanked for this post
  9. #7
    Forum Participant
    Join Date
    Jul 2015
    Location
    Canberra, Australia
    Posts
    1,667
    Threads
    150
    Thank You Posts

    Default

    Wonderful bird and very well photographed and presented Abhijit. The light here is pretty nice and has shown of the spectacular colours of the bird really well. Detail is excellent and the bird's pose very nice. Having the crab in bill is a great bonus. I'm not bothered by the white blobs in the background. As for tone, I'd go somewhere between your original post and Joe's repost. Agree that more room on the left would be good but this is still a really wonderful shot.

  10. #8
    BPN Viewer
    Join Date
    Oct 2017
    Posts
    87
    Threads
    16
    Thank You Posts

    Default

    Thanks Artie, I will try to work it the way you say

  11. #9
    BPN Viewer
    Join Date
    Oct 2017
    Posts
    87
    Threads
    16
    Thank You Posts

    Default

    Oh, This looks nice, just as Artie had suggested. & thanks for the RP.

  12. #10
    BPN Viewer
    Join Date
    Oct 2017
    Posts
    87
    Threads
    16
    Thank You Posts

    Default

    Glenn, thanks for your kind words. This bird is truly one of God's great gifts & just a reminder for us humans that , before we begin to think of ourselves as the Lords of this planet, we need to lok up to nature, get awestruck by the sheer audacity of its creativity & then shut up in all humility.
    As for the shot, i have learnt a few things here about processing. But i will say this that the way the white 'BLOB" behind the bird actually makes the outline of the crab stand out was the reason i tried to keep it at that.
    Thanks again
    Abhijit

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •  
Web Analytics