Pileated Woodpecker

[Colin Knight]

This is a very special image to me because it's only the 3rd Pileated Woodpecker I've ever seen. I was glad that he was so cooperative, allowing me several shots before flying away.

Canon 50D, 500mm, 1.4x TC, 1/2500 sec, f/5.6, ISO 400, cropped, hand-held using the window of the blind as a rest.

I like the eye contact and detail retained in the feathers- both the dark areas on the back and bright areas on the face. I like how the perch enters the frame, however cloning was required to remove distracting branches on the bottom left and upper left of the image. The angle is lower than desired, as such I didn't think it was good enough for the Avian forum.

Thanks for looking,
Colin

[Lance Peters]

Hi Colin - lots to like here - Good HA and eye contact, colours look good and the exposure is on the money.
Think you could coax a little more detail out with some additional sharpening - I sharpened with genuine fractals and then added some additional sharpening to the eye.
Look any better??

[Gus Cobos]

:cool:Hi Colin,
I like the capture. The image was a little soft. You do have good details with a good head angle and eye contact...Mr. Peters repost puts it over the top...good show, keep them coming...

[Colin Knight]

Thanks guys!

Lance, your version is much sharper.

My issue is that I worry about artifacting that tends to occurr with sharpening. It happens noticeably in DPP when viewed at 100%, but when I move the image to CS3 to sharpen there instead, USM doesn't just doesn't cut it in my opinion. If there were a way to selectively sharpen the subject and leave the background untouched in DPP, I think I would be set.

I need to explore more sharpening methods in Digital Photo Professional I guess.

Thanks for the help!
Colin

[Bob Decker]

Nice catch. I see these guys often... as they fly out of camera range. :( Lance's repost definately makes the image sing.

[Jeff Cashdollar]

Sweet image and nice repost.

[William Malacarne]

Nice image of a nice bird. I like the sharpening of the re-post but the color looks a little darker and some of the detail has been lost in the wing, particularly in the top towards the front.

Bill

[Colin Knight]

Yes, I can't wait to get home this evening and work with sharpening some more to replicate Lance's repost.

And Bob, it's all about being at the right place at the right time with this isn't it? =)

Colin

[Bill Dix]

Great bird, and you caught him with a nicely raised crest. My first thought was to sharpen the eye, and Lance's repost does that and more. Well captured, and nicely adjusted by Lance.

[Nonda Surratt]

Lucky you! And you made the most of it..good job and Lance's extra sharpening did the trick

[David Thomasson]

Excellent capture, Colin, for all the reasons already mentioned. I would probably vary the background luminosity a bit
(gradient on a curves adjustment layer). I used Topaz Detail to enhance the small details. I find this sharpening utility
quite good for pulling out finer details without producing halos. Also opened the shadow details on the bird a little with S/H filter.

[Colin Knight]

David, I didn't know you were over here too!

Thanks for your input. Unfortunately, I don't have any of the software you're referring to. I think the only common program we have is CS3 (I know you have CS4, same thing for this purpose). So how would you sharpen this using Photoshop?

Colin

[David Thomasson]

David, I didn't know you were over here too!

Thanks for your input. Unfortunately, I don't have any of the software you're referring to. I think the only common program we have is CS3 (I know you have CS4, same thing for this purpose). So how would you sharpen this using Photoshop?

I haunt all sorts of places! :cool:

You can do it all with CS3. I just recently bought Topaz Detail for the way it gets at the small stuff. Try unsharp mask with a small radius and high amount. For web-sized images, I generally use a radius of 0.2 and then work the amount down from 500%. Sometimes I can leave it at 500. For larger images, a larger radius, but go for the smallest radius that will produce a sharpening effect.

I also use an edge mask with USM. Here's a link to the action I built to generate an edge mask. It requires at least two layers, and you need to be on the top layer when you run it. It creates a new layer as a smart object so you can open the USM dialog and adjust. It defaults to 0.2/500, but you can easily change that to any default you want.

(Edit) The S/H filter is shadows/highlights. You have that in CS3.

[Arthur Morris]

Colin, You started with a good image and the re-posters really made it shine. Love the head angle. Lance, thanks for your great work as a MOD and David, your expertise and generosity is a big part of what makes BPN a special place, so thanks a ton.

[Colin Knight]

Thanks Art!

The original has been reposted a bit sharper as suggested. Thanks for the learning experience!

Colin