My First Green Heron

[Jay Gould]

Hello from rainy Villarica, Chile where we are again dealing with unseasonable rains. We seem to be a magnet for the rain!!

This heron was shot during the second day of my wonderful three day workshop with Jim Neiger.

After processing in Lightroom - crop, straighten, black clipping removal, and highlight recovery - off to PS and the first time I have used Noise Ninja. What a wonderful program to remove noise from the background; what a laborious job (I must be doing something wrong!) to mask the bird when you only have the preview window to check that you have full coverage. Anyone using NN with usage hints please chime in.

After NN I used Pixel Genius Capture Sharpener, flattened, and then used Viveza to, among other processing, lighten only the heron and darken the tree on the right and the perch.

Catch light added.

Finally saved as a psd, reopend, sized, applied Output Sharpener, and ........

Camera: 50D
Capture date/time: 29 Sep 09; late afternoon
Light condition: clear
Lens: 300 f/2.8
Focal length: 420mm
Extender: 1.4X
Tube: none
Flash/Comp: no;
ISO: 500
Exp Prog: Manual
Speed: 1/1000 sec
Aperture: f/6.3
Exp Comp: 0
Metering: Evaluative
WB: Auto
AF Drive: AI Servo
Tripod: no
Filter: None
Crop: 4752x3168 to 2396x2801

All C&Cs gratefully appreciated!

[Harold Davis]

only the mixed light was a problem here. would love for the left side, as we are looking at it, be lit from top to bottom. the noise ninja worked out nicely for you. wished i had some tips for you, but i dont use it!

good luck in chile. hope you get some good weather soon!!!

[Jackie Schuknecht]

Good sharpness and I like your framing. The mixed lighting is giving some harsh shadows. Hope you get better weather. Hope you get to see Torres Del Paine, it is so beautiful.

[Alfred Forns]

Hi Jay I prefer not shooting in mixed light but this one looks interesting, you have done well !!! I like the cropping and bird placement in frame !!

Noise wise I have been using Topaz or Noiseware Professional, like both over Noise Ninja, they don't seem to affect sharpness !! Might want to give them a try.

[wendell westfall]

Congrats on this first! Busy background, but the Greenie stands out so clearly and sharply from it that it is not a distraction for me. Beautiful birds, aren't they . . .

[Jay Gould]

Hi Jay I prefer not shooting in mixed light but this one looks interesting, you have done well !!! I like the cropping and bird placement in frame !!

Noise wise I have been using Topaz or Noiseware Professional, like both over Noise Ninja, they don't seem to affect sharpness !! Might want to give them a try.

Thanks everybody!

Al, are they both plug-ins and do you use them on the bird too? Cheers, Jay

[Jeff Cashdollar]

I agree with Al's comments, I do not shoot mixed light. Just never works for me and he turned me on to Topaz NR. I use is as a plug-in to CS4 and often run it on the entire picture w/o any loss of fine detail.

[Alfred Forns]

Hi Jay

They are PS plug ins and can use on the entire bird !!!

[Thanaboon Jearkjirm]

Love the environment in this one, the background show good environment without taking attention away from the subject. I like the perch, pose and HA too. The mixed light makes this hard for exposure, too much DR.

[Kerry Perkins]

Hi Jay! Great to see you posting and enjoying your adventure.

Harsh lighting and all aside, I do like this shot as it shows how well the bird's plumage can blend in with the environment - not the greatest conditions for showing off the bird but IMO good nature shot. These little Greenies always remind me of a guy standing around with his hands in his pockets! ;)

[Jay Gould]

Al-Jeff, when you use Topaz are you able to run a strong NR on the background or is it only global? I have temporarily loaded the program.