I captured this image last Monday at a stop along Blackpoint Wildlife Drive in Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, Merritt Island, Florida. Comments and critique welcomed and appreciated. Thank you for viewing.
Nikon D500
Nikon 500mm F/5.6 VR AF-S ED PF HH
1/1600 F/5.6 Matrix Metering EV +1 ISO 2800 Auto 1 WB, image captured at 500mm (750mm 35mm Equivalent)
Post processed in Lightroom Classic, Photoshop CC 2021 and Neat Image for noise reduction
Cropped for composition and presentation
Last edited by Joseph Przybyla; 02-10-2021 at 07:21 AM.
Joe Przybyla
"Sometimes I do get to places just as God is ready to have somebody click the shutter"... Ansel Adams
One of my favorite Florida birds, such characters. Like the pose, framing and background. The tip of bill is a bit OOF, but with the ISO you were using, going to a smaller f/stop probably not a good option. Lower shutter speed perhaps to allow the smaller f/stop, but perhaps you were set up for action when you took this still shot.
I would be tempted to increase the blacks just a bit to give it a bit more bite, as it appears just a bit washed out.
Cheers
Randy
Last edited by Randy Stout; 02-10-2021 at 07:37 AM.
One of my favorite Florida birds, such characters. Like the pose, framing and background. The tip of bill is a bit OOF, but with the ISO you were using, going to a smaller f/stop probably not a good option. Lower shutter speed perhaps to allow the smaller f/stop, but perhaps you were set up for action when you took this still shot.
I would be tempted to increase the blacks just a bit to give it a bit more bite, as it appears just a bit washed out.
Cheers
Randy
Hi Randy, thank you for viewing and commenting. After reading your comment regarding the tip of the bill I opened the master file and checked where the active focus point was. The active focus point was where the chin meets the pink of the bill, about half way between the eye and the tip of the bill. The depth of field was about 7 inches (19 cm) so maybe the tip at this angle was on the outer edge of the depth of field. Here is a repost where I used Topaz Sharpen AI to help the focus and I increased the black in the image. WDYT?
Joe Przybyla
"Sometimes I do get to places just as God is ready to have somebody click the shutter"... Ansel Adams
Love this one. Especially the repost. Not because of bill but it really made the subject pop from that beautiful BG. Love the framing and this canvas overall. TFS
JOE:
I like the repost better. It is perhaps a sliver more contrasty than the bird is in reality, but it gives it more bite. The darker bill, with the extra sharpening is better to my eye also.
Joseph very cool capture of this bird, some neat attitude going through its mind. The repost does have something in the feather detail that I prefer, and a little more color contrast in the pink.
Thanks everyone for viewing and commenting, much appreciated. Maybe three's a charm... I wasn't satisfied with the image, some fall into place others don't. I did the image over again this evening, also fixed a couple things that were bugging me. Here is a repost.
Joe Przybyla
"Sometimes I do get to places just as God is ready to have somebody click the shutter"... Ansel Adams
Reddish Egret (Dark Morph)
Joseph Przybyla thanked for this post
Originally Posted by Randy Stout
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