Here's a shot from this weekend. I was fortunate to have an opportunity to see this amazing bird.
I'd like to get feedback from how to make this picture work in the conditions. The sky was overcast, and I shot from the angle that was available to me without disturbing the bird.
I though the initial picture lacked a bit of contrast, by having a white bird over a white BG. I processed the picture in LR by doing the following:
-Added sharpness in LR 39/1.0/45
-Increase temperature to give it a little warmer feel
-Used the "Punch" preset in LR to increase contrast.
-Cropped to increase magnification, about 40% of original file.
EXIF are: ISO400, 500mm, f6.3, 1/640 sec, no flash. Pentax K-7 body with Sigma 500/4.5 on tripod. I tried pictures with and without flash, but the difference was barely noticeable.
Great shot and thanks for respecting his space. My suggestions, be careful when warming up pictures, you can create color cast (looks too warm to me) - do not be afraid to shoot white balance "as is". if you read APBII, Artie does it often. The other LR techs seem fine to me.
To me, overcast light means meter is not smart so must add light, what was the EV compensation?
Seems like fill flash might help here. This exposure was challenging and you did well. How did histogram look, post the shots with flash too, be neat to see comparisons. I have never seen one of these guys my heart would have been pumping and I would have left the cap on.
Last edited by Jeff Cashdollar; 12-06-2009 at 11:06 PM.
Agree with Jeff regarding exp comp, did not see in the tech info. Looks a little underexposed Just guessing form the image the comp might have been close to plus 2 !!
In PS I would try setting the white/black point in levels. Open levels, hold the alt key while moving the right slider to the left, then same for right. At the start all will be black and move until light appears then back down. Can also move the mid slider a tad to the light side.
In the re post did just that without any other changes, could also add a slight contrast but wanted you to see the image from a starting point. Besides contrast can do local changes to the left side of face lightening some.
The original image do looks a bit underexpose, if possible try to expose to the right (without blowing the whites). The angle doesn't bother me that much, I like the head turn and the squeeze eye, look like it trying to check you out. When I look at this picture my first thought of improvement was setting black and white points, which Alfred did in the repost.
Nice capture Stephane,
The image is just a tad under exposed, Mr. Forns puts it over the top. Good advise given by Mr. Cashdollar...I like the rear head turn and pose, showing good details...:cool:
Thanks for the feedback...! You guys have the eye... Exp Comp was at 1 2/3 stops. Here's a repost I did tried to adjust Black/White point, but using the Exposure and Blacks slider in LR. I think the cast is a littler bluer too.
I somehow like the first repost more than the second one.
I think (not sure) that setting black/white point help in spreading tonality, adding contrast and help in color correction (for color correction part http://ronbigelow.com/articles/white...hite-point.htm )
Snowy Owl
