Purple Gallinule

[WIlliam Maroldo]

SonyA700~Sony70-400G@250mm~Sony HVL-F56Am for fill-flash~ISO400~F7~1/400sec~manual exposure~hand held~Brazos Bend State Park, Texas~7-22-09
CS4
I have a lot of trouble with exposure with the purple gallinules, and I think it is due to their feather structure. The colors are very dependent on how they react with light, and not pigmentation. Under harsh direct light, the colors are great, but the high contrast and dark shadows of the rest of the image are problematic. Poor light? They loose their color and look pretty dark. Anyway, here is an attempt under overcast conditions.
comments and critique welcomed. regards~Bill

[Marina Scarr]

Hi Bill: I think the colors of this gorgeous bird are well depicted in this capture. I wouldn't consider the light poor. You have a nice catchlight. I would add a little room at the top if you have it and sharpen the bird (esp it's head) a bit more. The partly outstretched wing and feet are a real plus here.

Thank you for sharing! Marina

[Raymond Barlow]

very nice image, maybe a little more room at the top would help it., great perch and bg.

[WIlliam Maroldo]

Thanks. I should have said light overcast, and I wouldn't have considered it poor light. Actually, excellent lighting for just about any other bird, except these birds. The fill-flash had an influence no doubt. regards~Bill

[Brian Barcelos]

I agree with Marina here. Love these birds and hope to have a go at them some day. Congrats.

Brian

[Ramon M. Casares]

Very nice light, pose, BG, detail, colors, and comp. I it is nice to see the feet of this species.
Congratulations!

[Gal Shon]

Beautiful bird, great light and very good colors.
I would open the frame a bit, especially on the top.
You did vey well with the exposure.
On my monitor it looks little soft.

[Kiran Poonacha]

Lovely, we have a similar species called the purple moorhen in India.. nice colours and details.. would perfer a little more space on top.

[sree.kumar.h]

Like the composition and colours. Agree with Marina on the sharpness bit.

[Arthur Morris]

EXP is perfect. A VERT might have worked here. It needs to be sharpened.

[WIlliam Maroldo]

Thanks for the critiques! I as well agree about the sharpening, but the fundamental problem is why it needs sharpening in the first place? It may very well that under low contrast situations i.e. soft light, there is no other technical solution to improve critical sharpness in camera and post-processing sharpening will most likely be required.(other than standard jpeg conversion sharpening) What seems odd is that this particular species of bird presents more of a problem in this area than other birds photographed under similar conditions.regards~bill