My first post with a wish to become a better photographer

[Amirtharaj Williams]

Hi Everyone,

This is a Crested Serpent eagle resting on dead driftwood in the grassland. Very rare to see it out in the open as it is mostly a forest bird. I've joined BPN to improve and look forward to the comments.
Thank you.
Christy (Amirtharaj is my first name).

Canon 1D Mark II, 360mm, f/5.6, 1/125, ISO 400, no flash

[Doug Brown]

Hi Christy! Welcome to BPN! You've picked a great place to learn how to take better bird photographs! I took the liberty of adding some tech specs to your photo post; it helps with the education process if you include them with all of your photos. The bird looks a little underexposed; I'd like to see more detail in the darks. This can be done in camera with + EC or fill flash. It can also be handled in post-processing. I would clone out the twig below the bird and also the one in the bottom left of the frame. I would also crop just a bit off the top of the image. Look forward to more of your images! Where are you from?

[Amirtharaj Williams]

Thanks Doug. This is really useful. I am just reading through Art's DBP to learn about cloning etc.. Will try and see if I can improve the pic myself based on your comments. We live 50% of the time in Nepal and 50% in NE India. Thanks again and I look forward to becoming a better photographer. One of the problems I face with using the flash is that eye gets burned out or takes a violet shade. Any advice on this would be much appreciated.

[Randy Stout]

Christy:

In order to reduce the unusual eye reflections you mentioned, you have to move the flash off the axis of the lens. A Wimberley or other flash bracket that gets it above the center line of the lens will often do it. Many times you don't need much fill, esp. when using a flash extender such as the better Beamer.

I like the bird, certainly a new one for me.

Cheers

Randy

[Keith Carver]

Hi Christy and welcome to BPN! I agree with Doug's suggestions. This is the first Crested Serpent Eagle I've seen, so thanks for that. I love the perch, think you could crop out the top 10%-20% of the frame, open up the dark tones with PS, Shadows (try 40/30/0 to begin). Keep 'em coming!

[Tony Whitehead]

Welcome Christy. Excellent first post. I agree with Doug's crop and clone suggestions. Have tried a version lightening the darks with Shadows/Highlights (curves would be an option too). Did some NR as the BG looks a bit noisy and then increased the sharpening a little. Image looks to have a slight greenish cast so made a slight adjustment in colour balance. Looking forward to more of your photos.

[Ian McHenry]

Hi Christy
Nice pose of a beautiful eagle.
Tony's repost has really brought out the bird's detail.
Using noise reduction on the background only makes a big difference to bird portraits but one I'm still coming to grips with but definitely worth persevering with.
The sharpening then brings out the detail.
If you need editing help someone more knowledgeable than I can probably give you a step by step for selective editing.
Cheers: Ian Mc

[Ramon M. Casares]

I agree with what Doug has suggested about crop and cloning, regarding light and detail in the bird, in this case I would have gone with fill flash becasue the light seems to have been very little and weak, lower shutter speed or higer ISO would´ve not been the best choice, but some fill flash could have brought some more detail, correct me if I am worng please. Repost looks much better. Congratulations on your first post here and Welcome!

[Doug Brown]

I mentioned fill flash and + EC first in my suggestion to the OP Ramon. So you and I are in agreement here.

[Ramon M. Casares]

That´s what I meant Doug, that I agreed with you about your sgguestions, I just wanted to go deeper in why I would´ve go with fill flash :)

[Axel Hildebrandt]

Welcome to BPN! Great first post, great bird, soft light and eye contact. Lots of good advice above. Adding to the other suggestions, I would sharpen the bird a bit more, clone out the little branch below the tail and there is a dust spot on the right side. Maybe a bit noise reduction on the background. Keep them coming!

[Arthur Morris]

Hey Amirtharaj, Welcome. Do you prefer Christy or Amirtharaj? First off, thanks for your membership support. I just signed a copy of the soft cover ABP for you; did you get it yet? You are doing everything needed to improve quickly and with digital, that is easy to do. And heck, your first post is quite good. Be sure to calibrate your monitor. Wonderful bird, nice pose, perch, and head position, and lots of great suggestions above.

[Amirtharaj Williams]

Thanks everyone. I tried using the shadows 40/30/0, but it was becoming too light or maybe I am doing something wrong. So I just used 12/25/30. I've also cloned out the branch at the bottom right and the little bit of grass on the bottom left. How much ever I tried, I couldn't reproduce Tony's version. Any advice or help on that would be most appreciated. Here is my revised effort.

Art, Please call me Christy as that is my given name, While Amirtharaj is inherited from my Father and the Williams from my Grandfather:):). I probably will receive your much anticipated signed copy of ABP I and the CD ABP II in a couple of weeks as it takes that long out here even via UPS.

Thanks
Christy

[Ken Watkins]

This thread illustrates perfectly to me why you need to be on this forum, friendly criticism, very useful tips and a willingness to share hard won knowledge. You just cannot get this from the usual books.
Good luck Christy!

[Amirtharaj Williams]

Welcome Christy. Excellent first post. I agree with Doug's crop and clone suggestions. Have tried a version lightening the darks with Shadows/Highlights (curves would be an option too). Did some NR as the BG looks a bit noisy and then increased the sharpening a little. Image looks to have a slight greenish cast so made a slight adjustment in colour balance. Looking forward to more of your photos.

Hi Tony,

Much as I tried, I couldn't get the image to brighten up like you made it to. Would it be possible to give me step by step instructions of how you did it so I can learn. Thank you for your time,

with best regards
Christy

[Tony Whitehead]

Hi Christy, I also just used Shadows/Highlights - don't remember the exact values but it was about40/40/30 (make sure your black and white clips are set to 0%). The other thing I did was a slight colour balance adjustment slightly away from blue (toward yellow) and slightly away from green (toward magenta) as an adjustement layer in PS CS4. Sorry I don't recall the exact settings as I just did it by eye on my laptop. Hope this helps.

[Arthur Morris]

Thanks everyone. I tried using the shadows 40/30/0, but it was becoming too light or maybe I am doing something wrong. So I just used 12/25/30. I've also cloned out the branch at the bottom right and the little bit of grass on the bottom left. How much ever I tried, I couldn't reproduce Tony's version. Any advice or help on that would be most appreciated. Here is my revised effort.

Art, Please call me Christy as that is my given name, While Amirtharaj is inherited from my Father and the Williams from my Grandfather:):). I probably will receive your much anticipated signed copy of ABP I and the CD ABP II in a couple of weeks as it takes that long out here even via UPS.

Thanks
Christy

Hi Christy, Here are several ways to lighten your image"

1-In Curves, simply pull the middle of the curve up.
2-In Levels, move the middle-tone slider to lighten the image.
3-In Hue-Saturation, move the Lighter slider to the right.

I hope that the books arrive safely soon. I inscribed it to Amirtharaj" as I did not know that you went by Christy.

Keep up the good work.

[Amirtharaj Williams]

Thank you everyone and I love the feeling of attending this school:):). Art, thanks again for autographing the book. I can't wait to work on my next image to post. warm regards Christy

[Arthur Morris]

This thread illustrates perfectly to me why you need to be on this forum, friendly criticism, very useful tips and a willingness to share hard won knowledge. You just cannot get this from the usual books. Good luck Christy!

Thanks Ken for your more than kind words. Most of the stuff above, except for the fine tuning, is available in ABP II and in Digital Basics, but then again, they are not ordinary books. :) :) :)