Northern gannet

[Gene Herzberg]

Sony a700, sigma 500 mm 4.5 lens at f 7.1,1/1250 s, iso 400, +0.7 exposure comp.

[Lance Peters]

Hi Gene - love these gannetts, I like the BG and like the eye contact and stare.

The main problem here is that you have blown out the whites, there are area's of white with no details, do you check your histogram after taking a shot?? The histogram for this looks like this....

The arae circled represents the whites - you dont want the graph climbing up the side like it is (at least not when your main source of whites is your subject)

Easy mistake when starting out - check out some of my early efforts in the thread about starting out.:)

keep them coming.

[Lance Peters]

Hmmm - wont let me upload the image of the histogram - just hangs - will try again later. :(

[Gene Herzberg]

Thanks Lance. The original is not overexposed, I seem to have done that when I did a levels adjustment in post processing. I do check the histogram an it was fine on camera. Have to watch more carefully during post processing.

Gene

[Nicki Gwynn Jones]

Hi Gene, I have found that it easy to blow out the whites in PP. Fear not, you 'll get loads of good advice if you stay on this forum! I would be tempted to crop a little from the top of the picture and I feel that the BG is a tad dark.
Great repost from Lance!
Regards,
Nicki

[Lance Peters]

Hi Gene - look forward to seeing a repost - love these birds. I would possibly go tighter and vertical - the face is the main point of intrest for me at least.

[Kristin Brown]

Gene,
I am new to this forum so I am a bit shy to critique but I will agree with above comments. I too would have liked to see this particular photo vertical. I am fascinated by these birds. Nice shot!

Kristin

[Gene Herzberg]

Forgot in the original to mention that this was taken at Cape St. Mary's Newfoundland Canada

[Arthur Morris]

Hi Gene, If the ORIG is not over, then proper technique is to hold down the ALT key while moving the highlight slider while doing the Levels ADJ. The whole image will turn black. As you move the slider to the left, the over-exposed areas will begin to appear as white or light speckles or blotches. When that happens, you need to move teh slider back to the right until they speckles disappear. It sounds as if you need to check out our Digital Basics PDF as it contains tips on making Levels ADJs and about 1,000 more great tips.

[Lance Peters]

Hi Gene - repost still looks over.

Heres my take on a crop, might not be to everyones taste - I like tight and close.

:)

[Julie Kenward]

I like your repost, Gene, but I'd be tempted to take a little bit off the right side. Leave a stream of blue down the right and crop the rest. It's another way to go.

Beautiful image overall!

[Alfred Forns]

Love the re post Gene !!! Agree with Jules on the crop Would take some from the right and top

I prefer seeing the blue bg to the vertical crop in this case That bg is luscious !!!! When were you at the Cape?

[Desmond Chan]

Wow, the bird doesn't look happy at all :D:D

The repost got some details back. Yeah, I think a vertical may make this image even better. The background has beautiful color though.

[Harold Davis]

nice repost, gene!! does look like you got some detail back in there! the stare is intense!! i'm glad you were able to get some iris in the right eye of the bird. and the background rocks!!!! really cool!!

[Gene Herzberg]

Thanks Alfred, I'll try that crop. I was at the Cape yesterday. We live in St. John's so get down there several times a year.

Gene

[Beth Goffe]

That's one disapproving gannet! I agree with Al regarding the bird against the background. I've used Artie's suggestion regarding the slider and it's really helpful. Hopefully your next crop will work for you.