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Thread: Sacred Kingfisher

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    Default Sacred Kingfisher

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    Hi all,

    A New Zealand sacred kingfisher, or kōtare, taken on a very windy and rainy (half)day in Auckland. This was along the coast on an intertidal zone where I watched and photographed two of them for about an hour or so until the rain stopped and the day turned hot and sunny. Really 4 seasons in a day in NZ. Perch is volcanic rock and BG is rock and ocean. In post, pretty basic edits, slight crop, some NR on the BG.

    Camera: Nikon D500
    Lens: 500mm f/4 + 1.4 TC
    Specs: 1/800 f/5.6 ISO 800

    Thanks for looking and commenting on prior posts!
    Alex

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    Hello Alex, this is a really good looking bird. I would prefer a tighter crop eliminating all the bright spots on the top of the frame. Also, the bird is underexposed and the colors look a little dull to me. I brighten the bird, used NIK 25-25, increased vibrance and saturation, lighten the section under the birds eye and increased overall exposure, I also sharpen a little (maybe too much?) This was a quick "fix" working on the small file. Lot more can be done with the raw file. Let me know what you think. Thank you for sharing

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    Hey Juan, thanks for the RP and your thoughts. I played with a version / other file with just the brown BG and liked that too, but opted for the ocean as it's a bit more 'habitat' but I think the file can go either way, although all rock BG is a definitely cleaner. I think yours looks a little too pushed (albeit editing a JPG doesn't help) as it is IMO a pretty dark bird, but I agree the bird wouldn't be hurt by some more saturation either, especially on the deep blue/greens. With that said I think the head can go a little lighter and I like that your RP brought out more the browns on the face around the beak which is my favorite part of this bird. I've never seen this bird in really nice golden hour light, only ever on rainy / heavily clouded days or high on wires / trees in high sun, so that probably changes how I view the editing of them too. I'll probably take another look at the file tonight / tomorrow AM with fresh eyes. Thanks again, great to get different thoughts and edits especially on files taken on dark / overcast days.

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    Interesting point of views.

    In the version shared by Juan, I think bird is a little crunchy due to sharpening, Mostly it is because that was worked in JPEG.

    I like both versions. I would like to have more space in the bottom in both versions.

    As I have not see this this bird in field, I cannot comments on the colors and tonal changes.

    TFS

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    I would a combo of the two, Juan's treatment of the subject with Alex's composition.

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    Hi Alex, beautiful bird, nicely shown. I agree with Tim. I think Juan's edit brings out more detail and lightens the exposure, but I like your composition. 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

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    A great looking bird. (I don't recall seeing one on South Island, although that was long ago and I wasn't concentrating on birds.) I rather liked the somber tones of the OP, but Juan's RP also works for me as regards the brightness/saturation. My first reaction on the OP was that a pano crop taking out some - but perhaps not all - of the brightness at the top of the frame would help focus the eye more on the bird.

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