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Thread: Is this image too dark?

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    Default Is this image too dark?

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    My normal approach with most of my images is to selectively bring up brightness the bird and bring down the BG. I use various approaches depending on the image. My goal is to separate the bird from the BG. In this image of a Slaty-backed Nightingale-Thrush, I used the masking in ACR to do this. I tried to balance keeping the bird "black" with raising the brightness. I used the Black slider to do this. I also brought down the texture and clarity of the BG. Beyond that (cropped about 20% from bottom and R) not much else was done. Shot with a Canon R5 at ISO 2000, I used DeNoise AI to bring down the noise.
    My question is: Is the overall image too dark? Any other suggestions?

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    Oops! My wife just pointed out the bright leaves between the bird's legs. I have to go back and bring that down.

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    Default I will try it again

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    Let's try this one.

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    Macro and Flora Moderator Jonathan Ashton's Avatar
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    James my reply would be too dark for who? It's all about personal choice and to some extent conventionality. The bird looks pretty well exposed, perhaps the tail is a little dark so deciding upon how much to lighten it is really up to you, I would suggest ask yourself did you recall any detail there or not? The leaves are dark perhaps the scene was that dark, but as for routinely making backgrounds darker, I would suggest consider it but by no means make it a general rule. I appreciate you were asking for guidance and my reply essentially throws it back but I think that is not an unhelpful thing to do, I feel it makes you think upon how you want to present your image, be that in a natural way or in a more contrived way.
    I usually try to remember to say if I like an image or not, I remember Arthur Morris once mentioned this, and the answer is yes I like the image I think it is acceptable they way it is portrayed, i suspect however I may well have investigated if it did look better with increased exposure or varying shades of light and dark to help illustrate depth of field.

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    I think it could use a boost -- but not a big one! Most of nightingale-thrushes are understory skulkers, so the scene is an accurate representation of how they usually present. You just want it to grab folks a bit more than it does now. I don't think you need to do it locally; a global ump should do it. Curious what other will say!

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    BPN Member dankearl's Avatar
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    I think it is perfect for the species and habitat. I like this a Lot!
    Dan Kearl

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    BPN Member William Dickson's Avatar
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    I would leave as is.....Very natural looking and you are getting detail on the bird.....

    Will

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    Super Moderator Daniel Cadieux's Avatar
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    I'm in Dorian's camp in saying that a slight, and I mean slight, boost to the overall exposure would work - no more than 1/3 stop or so. But having said this, I love the low-light feel here, so leaving it as is definitely has a realistic feel too. The pose the bird gave you is oh-so sweet - both the head and tail raised like this makes for such a fun and dynamic pose. I love all the greenery. If a scene is going to be busy, this is the way to do it...busy but not distracting. Nicely done!

    P.S. Good eye by your eagle-eyed wife!

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    Avian Moderator Brian Sump's Avatar
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    James, I quite like this one. The feeling of being small in the forest comes through.

    Tremendous pose and great eye contact. Overall nice framing by the surrounding leaves.

    I believe you could play with some gentle, selective brightening (with well-founded practices of course) to bring in a little more light effect in some of the lighter elements of the leaves, the eye and beak and underside. That would really add some drama.

    Overally, it's really close but probably just a touch dark IMO.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Jonathan Ashton View Post
    James my reply would be too dark for who? It's all about personal choice and to some extent conventionality. The bird looks pretty well exposed, perhaps the tail is a little dark so deciding upon how much to lighten it is really up to you, I would suggest ask yourself did you recall any detail there or not? The leaves are dark perhaps the scene was that dark, but as for routinely making backgrounds darker, I would suggest consider it but by no means make it a general rule. I appreciate you were asking for guidance and my reply essentially throws it back but I think that is not an unhelpful thing to do, I feel it makes you think upon how you want to present your image, be that in a natural way or in a more contrived way.
    I usually try to remember to say if I like an image or not, I remember Arthur Morris once mentioned this, and the answer is yes I like the image I think it is acceptable they way it is portrayed, i suspect however I may well have investigated if it did look better with increased exposure or varying shades of light and dark to help illustrate depth of field.
    Thank you. I absolutely agree with you that many of these adjustments are personal preference. 99% of my images never leave my computer. However, just like my wife did earlier, sometimes I can look at an image and wonder, "Would this look better if I did???". After I stare at an image for a period of time, I just overlook some obvious things. I will look at trying some different local adjustments.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Dorian Anderson View Post
    I think it could use a boost -- but not a big one! Most of nightingale-thrushes are understory skulkers, so the scene is an accurate representation of how they usually present. You just want it to grab folks a bit more than it does now. I don't think you need to do it locally; a global ump should do it. Curious what other will say!
    You are absolutely correct about this bird's habitat and habits. This was taken on the periphery of a security light that attracted moths at night. That is one reason the in focus leaves were brighter than the overall BG.

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    Quote Originally Posted by dankearl View Post
    I think it is perfect for the species and habitat. I like this a Lot!
    Thank you.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Daniel Cadieux View Post
    I'm in Dorian's camp in saying that a slight, and I mean slight, boost to the overall exposure would work - no more than 1/3 stop or so. But having said this, I love the low-light feel here, so leaving it as is definitely has a realistic feel too. The pose the bird gave you is oh-so sweet - both the head and tail raised like this makes for such a fun and dynamic pose. I love all the greenery. If a scene is going to be busy, this is the way to do it...busy but not distracting. Nicely done!

    P.S. Good eye by your eagle-eyed wife!
    Thank you for your thoughts. Oh yes, there is no doubt my wife is my best critic.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Brian Sump View Post
    James, I quite like this one. The feeling of being small in the forest comes through.

    Tremendous pose and great eye contact. Overall nice framing by the surrounding leaves.

    I believe you could play with some gentle, selective brightening (with well-founded practices of course) to bring in a little more light effect in some of the lighter elements of the leaves, the eye and beak and underside. That would really add some drama.



    Overally, it's really close but probably just a touch dark IMO.
    Thank you. I shot a series of over 30 shots of this bird and this was the one I liked the best. I was fortunate because I am sitting somewhat higher than the bird, so when it tilted its head up, it gave me much better eye contact. I forgot to mention that I did apply a radial gradient to the eye and very slightly brought up the saturation (about 3-4 points) and the brightness (about 1/3 stop).

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