Willet among the weeds

[wendell westfall]

Nikon D70s 70-200VR @ 180 1/1000 f2.8 ISO 720

Taken today -- a foggy morning. Cropped a lot; photoshopped only a little . . . Does it "work"?
Wendell

[Alfred Forns]

Hi Wendell for a record image is just fine For anything else there is much bg clutter and a steep angle. Also the crop is hurting the image You did very well calculating the exposure and obtaining a pleasing pose !!!

[Gus Cobos]

Hi Wendell,
This is a nice habitat capture; agree with Mr. Forns' techs and advise. The two biggies for me is the steep capture angle and the prominent noise in the background...:cool:

[Lance Peters]

Hi Wendell - agree with the above - not enough seperation between the bird and the BG.
Keep them coming. :)

[wendell westfall]

Thanks Alfred and Gus! Here is the image as it came out of the camera, untouched (hope I'm re-posting this image correctly). I have trouble seeing noise. I'm thinking it might be my vision as I've had this kind of criticism before, but cannot see it myself -- or I may not be sure what I'm looking for. I'd really appreciate a few more words from you on the topic. Is there noise in the uncropped image? Would you point out more specifically where you see noise and what I should look for in an image to determine its presence. Was it caused in this instance by my extensive cropping? etc.

Wendell

[Jackie Schuknecht]

Usually a high ISO and a lot of cropping magnifies noise, especially in the dark areas. You did well with your post I think though considering the image you started with. You can see noise in the water. (The sort of grainy effect)

[wendell westfall]

Thanks, Jackie! I'm sure many will think your comments basic and obvious, but for me they are VERY helpful. Would you recommend I invest in some kind of noise removal software that I've heard about? If so, what is a good one?

[Jackie Schuknecht]

I know you are using elements, and I don't know if it has a noise removal feature or not. PhotoShop does. There are a lot more people who know more technical stuff than me. I think you were trying to get your shutter speed up to freeze the action. Maybe a day with better light and you could drop your ISO. I have to rely on cropping too to get a zoom effect and try to shoot at the lowest ISO possible. I have heard Noise Ninja is good, but maybe you could try other things first.

[wendell westfall]

Hi Jackie. Yes, I do use Elements mostly, but I also have PhotoShop. I just now tried its Reduce Noise feature and got little, if any, improvement in my image. I checked my files and found i had taken another shot of the same subject, and at ISO400, with 1/250sec.at f4.0. It made a huge difference in the amount of noise (now I'm seeing it). Looks like you are exactly right with your ISO and cropping comments. I'll try to be more careful. I appreciate your help and advice.