Snail Kite salvage job

[Doug Brown]

I really blew it on this Snail Kite fly-by. It was last light, and I didn't notice that my exposure compensation was set to zero (I normally would have used about +1 1/3 in these lighting conditions). I was shooting at ISO 1600, and significant underexposure at high ISO is usually a recipe for a lousy resulting image (especially true on a 1.6 crop sensor like the 50D). I liked the wing position and eye contact on this frame, so I gave it a shot in LR and PS. I had to boost my exposure 1.16 stops in LR. I was pleased with the resulting image so I thought I'd share it with you all.



Canon 50D, 500mm, f/5.6, 1/4000, ISO 1600, no flash, hand held

[Roman Kurywczak]

Hey Doug,
Really nice save! I looked hard to find some noise and while there may be a hair.....it's amazing that you got so little considering the high iso and the exposure boost in PP'ing. Sweet light and wing position and considering the circumstances....Great save!

[David Roach]

Wow! Not only a great save of an image well worthy, but a great example of how well the 50D handles noise at 1600!!

[Axel Hildebrandt]

I find the noise very acceptable considering the high ISO and underexposure. The eye looks very sharp and the light is great. I wish there were a bit more detail in the wings but that would probably bring out the noise more.

[Tony Whitehead]

Good job, Doug. Lovely light and pose showing under and overwing patterns. Did you run NR on this? I agree with Axel that wing detail is probably suffering at the expense of lack of noise but I think the compromise works.

[Doug Brown]

For educational purposes, here's a straight RAW-to-JPEG conversion of the original image.

[Jim Neiger]

Doug,

I think you did a fine job with the post processing and the image holds up fine for web display. I think the color you ended up with is a bit off though. I have 3 images that were made within a few seconds of this one, and they have a warmer appearance with more orange and less pink.

[Doug Brown]

Thanks Jim! And thanks for a great couple of days in Florida. If I'd been shooting manual exposure like you do this wouldn't have happened. Oh well. There's always Utah!

[Jim Neiger]

Thanks Jim! And thanks for a great couple of days in Florida. If I'd been shooting manual exposure like you do this wouldn't have happened. Oh well. There's always Utah!

FYI: My exposure was 1/400, F5.6, ISO 1250. I was using the 500mm+1.4xTC on the 1D3. I'm ready for Utah!