This is a case of being so excited about a life bird that i have lost perspective as to whether this is salvageable or a delete! I have longed for an opportunity to photograph this species and had my only opportunity with David Salem last January. After photographing the pelicans, it was a short walk to the cliff's edge to shoot the Brandt's. Yikes, tough angle to shoot the nesting folks, sun was high and not my friend, and I was standing next to Patrick Sparkman who was firing away with glee: he was shooting with a Nikon. The conversation was about the focus advantage of birds in flight with a Nikon. Try as I might, prefocus, and tracking, almost all of my shots were soft or not in focus despite having active AF points... Patrick, remained gleeful and would show us his successes. So I can't say I'm ready or able to move to the dark side, but I can say it sure is a reality check when you are standing next to someone who is getting the shots you know you should be getting... I will be trying Artie's tip that he shared this week on his blog, and see if that lands me more satisfaction.
This bird was shot at 286mm with my 100-400mmII and the 5D mark IV. In PS levels I added 3 pts of black, added some contrast, selectively adjusted for shadows on the bird, and highlights on the ocean and shoreline in the BG. I selectively sharpened the head, NR neat image. I'm not sure about any color cast, and I look forward to any suggestions and comments you have. Im not very familiar with this species and could use some help.
PS after uploading, my answer is a delete, and another flight out West! The TIFF looked okay, specifically the flesh on the face was sharp with the dimpled details, but once compressed as a jpeg, its all gone... I tried several times to get that quality on the jpeg but failed...
Canon 5D mark IV
100-400mmII
@286mm
ISO 1000
f 6.3
1/1600
Last edited by annmpacheco; 03-20-2018 at 06:54 PM.
Reason: mispelling
Hi Ann, for me this one wouldn't be a keeper either. The light angle isn't ideal which makes it tough for a dark bird like the cormi, from here the head looks soft to me
I would delete, was great meeting you and Gail, that time of day and angle makes for difficult shooting. You came away with some great images from your trip so don't worry about this one! Hope to see you again
Ann, I won't comment on whether you keep it. Too much of a personal choice. I can see the IQ issues but puzzled why you shot this at ISO 1000 and 1/1600. On that camera with Neat Image you should have been able to push this to ISO 3200 without too much trouble and got more SS which I think is one of the contributors to IQ here. As Steve Kaluski has reminded me on a number of occasions, a noisy image can often be recovered but a soft one usually can't. I don't know your workflow so don't know if you are going straight to ACR/PS or via DPP or some other RAW processor as this can affect noise and therefore the maximum ISO you may be comfortable with (some testing I've contributed to with Ian Wilson in Australia shows significant differences in RAW conversion NR levels). Of course, you may have a different view on what is acceptable IQ but I've found Neat Image does wonders on my crop sensor 80D with a high pixel count. I'm also puzzled why your TIFF would look OK and your jpg not. With a background containing no fine detail, the jpg compression needed for this should not have been great and should have kept much of the TIFF detail. I think that's worth investigation.
Ann, I won't comment on whether you keep it. Too much of a personal choice. I can see the IQ issues but puzzled why you shot this at ISO 1000 and 1/1600. On that camera with Neat Image you should have been able to push this to ISO 3200 without too much trouble and got more SS which I think is one of the contributors to IQ here. As Steve Kaluski has reminded me on a number of occasions, a noisy image can often be recovered but a soft one usually can't. I don't know your workflow so don't know if you are going straight to ACR/PS or via DPP or some other RAW processor as this can affect noise and therefore the maximum ISO you may be comfortable with (some testing I've contributed to with Ian Wilson in Australia shows significant differences in RAW conversion NR levels). Of course, you may have a different view on what is acceptable IQ but I've found Neat Image does wonders on my crop sensor 80D with a high pixel count. I'm also puzzled why your TIFF would look OK and your jpg not. With a background containing no fine detail, the jpg compression needed for this should not have been great and should have kept much of the TIFF detail. I think that's worth investigation.
Thank you Glenn, I agree with you questioning my settings, my error indeed, I was switching to the perched birds and waiting on an incoming cormorant and wasn't fast enough on the fly. I agree, with this camera body I have no difficulty with high ISO's as long as my exposure is correct. I do use DPP if my ISO is 1600 or higher, and i do use neat image. The TIFF file is indeed sharp and so i do not know what i did or didn't do correctly to have the head be this noticeable.... That was the one reason i thought this might be a keeper.... Anyway, I appreciate your input and maybe I can rework the TIFF, but i do believe in the end as much as I wish this was a keeper, my wishing isn't going to change the image! I would love to frequent the place and have more than my half hour with less than optimal light... Thanks Glenn
Hi Ann, I wouldnt beat myself up. We have all missed that perfect shot, and cormorants are not the easiest to get right at the best of times. With regards to a colour cast, there is a strong hint of too much blues. Here a quick version by reducing the blues, and thought of reducing the reds slightly too. Cormy's are really more on the black side.
If its any consolation I didn't get crap from that shoot either. It was very tough shooting conditions.
I think the best Idea you had was getting a flight back out here next year
Keep em coming
Come join me for a Custom Raptor Workshop starting this November 2019- January 2020.
P.M. me to inquire on dates, pricing and availabilities. Thank You. www.davidsalemphotography.com
incoming Brandt Cormorant
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Originally Posted by Glenn Pure
