Ruddy Turnstone

[Paul Kammen]

A ruddy turnstone on the beaches of Corpus Christi from a few weeks ago. He forages for food in the seaweed.

[Paul Kammen]

Z9, 600mm f/4 TC VR S, 1/1250, f 5.6, ISO 500

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi Paul, overall its a bit heavy with the Blacks and the whites in the chest/head are not blown, just very hot, addressing these and upping the Exposure say +0.20 helps the overall soft lighting. So backing off with both Black & Contrast and then dodge the whites will help the appearance of the subject. Sharpening is too much, you creating some halos around the subjects. If ethics allow then a small bit of gardening and give the BKG a little more uniformity does help overall, cropping to a 4x6 from the top LHc down may offer another alternative.

TFS
Steve

[Paul Kammen]

Thanks, not much sharpening was done in post, just a very small amount on detail extractor brushing the bird.

[Steve Kaluski]

Thanks, not much sharpening was done in post, just a very small amount on detail extractor brushing the bird.

Hi Paul, not knowing your depth of PP, or what you use, makes things simpler.

Detail extractor is not the greatest tool in the box and like Highlight/Shadow in PS, both need to be applied with a very light hand and with % masks, never at full strength. They tend to be quite aggressive as 'tools' and any adjustments ideally never like to be seen so to speak. If you look at the seaweed in the same plane of focus as the bird, the seafood looks good so the bird should be the same. I would be tempted to switch that tool adjustment off then see.

All sharpening must be done after exported and cropped for upload, basically it's your penultimate adjustment before posting so sharpening is applied for that size.

Hope this helps.

[Daniel Cadieux]

I love that clump of seaweed which has the turnstone's interest. Gives a nice beach feel. A lower angle and/or pointing your lens a bit more upwards would have been good IMO. Perhaps a bit too yellow as well? I hope to see a breeding plumage one this year - we don't see them too often this time of year during spring migration over here - last year was unusually good!

[Arthur Morris]

Aside from the excellent sharpness here, there are many problems. #1 was not mentioned by anyone above: working off light angle leads to multiple problem-- excessive contrast being the first and foremost. Though the WHITEs in front of the eye are not toasted, they are far too bright with no detail. And the pretty colors of the upperparts are shaded.

Simple advice: point your shadow at the bird.

with love, artie

[Jonathan Ashton]

I like the image, I would have preferred a little more head room, maybe a tad less base. As mentioned light didn't make for a straightforward exposure and adjustments are necessary to bring out the most detail.