Help needed with hot spot

[James Boland]

I need some help with a hot spot on the leading edge of the bird's left wing. What steps would I take in Photoshop CS4 to mitigate it now that I have the image?

Canon EOS 50D; EF 100-400mm lens @100mm; Manual Mode; 1/2000 sec shutter speed; f6.3; ISO 400; Evaluative Metering.

Other C and C solicited. Would a landscape crop be more appropriate for this action?

Jim

[David Thomasson]

Did you shoot raw?

[Desmond Chan]

The image as is, the white areas may not be the biggest issue. I'd say it's the dark areas that is. If you could, you may want to try to salvage the details in those areas. As is, the bright areas do not seem to be that hot. But it could be you already did something to them. If you want to retreat any "hidden" details in the bright areas, usually you can try - in Camera Raw if you use that - adjusting the Exposure and Recovery. Even if you shoot jpeg, you can still do the adjustments in Camera Raw. There may not be a lot of details available for recovery though in jpeg.

I prefer this to the landscape format.

[Lance Peters]

Hi James - Whites are up there but not over - Blacks are a little blocked.
Solution - Black and White birds = Soft Light. The only way you can get details in the blacks and whites that are under (unless you use flash).

I like the vertical composition and the bird flying towards you.
Keep em coming :)

[Gus Cobos]

Hi James,
I like the capture and composition, the bird is placed just right...I like the raised wing position...Your whites are a tad warm and you are lacking details in the blacks...agree with the techs...looking forward to your next one...:cool:

[Alfred Forns]

Hi James !!!

Would first try to recover something in the RAW process and might even do a double conversion then blend the images. You can also make a layer, select the hot area then multiply, works if you have data. As last resort can clone some info int the area.

I'm sure David could come up with other alternatives, always gives sensory overload information !!!!!! ... and I always listen !!!

[James Boland]

Yes, I shot "raw".

[James Boland]

Thanks. I completely overlooked the loss of details in the black.

[David Smith]

James:

See what you think of this. Done a little shadows and highlights adjustments and just a little sharpening.. I like the HA and the wing positions. Very Nice.

Dave

[Alfred Forns]

Good try Dave Don't think there is much else to do other than clone !!!

Jim downloaded the image and there are lots of pixels with zero info couldn't get them back. It is possible to do something with the raw file !!!

[James Boland]

I'll try that path Dave. Thanks.