Hi Jeff - Think I would crop tighter or go vertical - the negative space behind the bird does nothing for me, I adjusted the levels a little, unblocked the blue channel, lightened the eye a tad and added some sharpening - see if this looks any better to you.
Love the eye and the bill colouring, Good HA and Eye Contact - looking forward to more.
I agree, too much empty space. The repost brings the focus on the subject where it belongs. The eye looks much better as well. How do you unblock the blue channel - thank you, great work.
Jeff, Very nice image and your PP work looks great! I like the pose and details along with a nice clean eye! Lance's tweaks took it up a notch. Well done!!!
Great suggestions by Lance !!! Repost looks very good !!
The cropping makes it a stronger image and concentrates the attention on the face. Very good PS work, you do have the basics down well !! For sharpening would always try overdoing then backing down to taste. Just like for any effect is best to exaggerate to see how it's working. Doing Good BB !!!
Jeff, love your BG and the eye of the TCH. I think a tighter crop would be better. Tried one with the heron coming out of the corner. Looks like you learned a lot and had fun!
Thanks, your composition is excellent. It puts the focus on the TCH and extends the image a bit providing breathing room. By the way, I was not sure of the species, how could you tell, the bill?
Thanks to Al and Fab's I can QM, LM and perform some functional PS techniques. Including interfacing between LRII and CS4 and I switched to Topaz as a NR tool.
I started to use manual mode. Still developing this skill. Al showed me to set exposure in the AV mode (subject in same light as sky) then, switch to manual, meter the low horizon, set like or same AV settings - for BIF add +1 EV. In addition, we used the BB and set flash exposure to -1 . The EV +1 was to compensate for the light sky and the BB -1 was to remove shadows on the underside of the BIF. I think this is correct, I will ask Al to review my narrative.
In situations where light changes, the manual setting did provide some consistency. I need to practice more to get value from this method. I was surprised how handy the BB was, a small amount of flash can really make a difference. Man,.. could I have used a flash battery power pack? I must have hit the souvenir stand 3 or 4 times purchasing AA batteries. I plan to buy a charger from Artie's new on-line store.
Al let me use his 500MM for a few shots, now I am hooked. When the capital markets recover I want one. Fab's was great with PS, I can make the core adjustments, For example, QM, LM, blur and sharpen and effectively web save for BPN.
I now have the ability to take my photography to the next level, if I practice, post and read. Thanks for the kind words, please continue to advise me and provide direction. I need it now more than ever.
Regal Heron
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