Never been out for a while, so still looking through old files that have never been processed....This is one from a set up...Taken from a hide sunk into the ground and a small lochan stocked with large rainbow trout to entice the birds...If I remember correctly, I'm sure there was only 6 dives over a 6 hour period....Just before this frame, the bird was struggling with the fish and was almost pulled under.....but once those wings started flapping, there was only going to be one winner.....HH....ACR and PS.
Hi Will, based on the techs you had some awesome light, but perhaps being just a little overcast would have worked better in you favour with the HL's. Think ISO800 more native and a fraction more SS, albeit you had enough, but 800 would have been good.
Super pose and good you got the eye/head in, but a tough call of the whites and blacks. The background is a bit sooty/crappy, as you have ACR you should be able to deploy a mask and resolve the BKG, in doing so it's a little cleaner, but helps the subject with separation. I would also look at darkening the water and adding some overall saturation, +10 I think would be enough and certainly NOT Vib! In addition, with the adjustment brush, just tickle the trout to drop some of the brighter whites & HL's. If you are happy, then the two yellow flowers need to go,
TFS
Steve
PS Think you pushed the Blacks/Contrast.
Post Production: It’s ALL about what you do with the tools and not, which brand of tool you use.
That is some incredible action! The feet, fish, and splash steal the show. It would be great to have more direct lighting on the bird's face, but I think the frame works well as captured. Steve's rework is a significant improvement with respect to the background. Nice work.
Will, fabulous timing on this shot. It's quite a rare pose IMO and adding in the catch of the day really sparks it up!
I like the overall tones in the plumage. It appears you probably did a little work on the face based on being in the shadows but I believe a touch more attention there to brighten the eye and at a touch of saturation in the yellow could help loads.
Would have been nice to have a touch more separation from the reeds but the setting is seen well in this aspect. Comp is spot on and using the touch of darkening selectively as Steve mentioned works.
Hi Will ... what a nice shot of the Osprey .
Super pose and the peeking under the wings is nice ... and getting this with the fish is priceless !!
Processing is many times just a matter of taste ... personally i would like to see more color and lesser contrast in the BG . And i would darken the water not as much as Steve with his demo .
A killer shot , that i would process differently ... just for the matter of taste .
Hi Will ... i found a bit of time to edit your nice image .
So here is my view of it .
My thinking is in a sunny situation like this i would see the colors a bit more " visible " so to speak .... might not fit to all folks including yourself .
But Steve is for sure right , an RP is a better way to illustrate things .
So here you go !
Cheers Andreas
Osprey
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Originally Posted by Steve Kaluski
, as time is limited and a written suggestion or thought must be enough .
