Touch Down
This is a Cape Cormorant, and I find them extremely difficult subjects. The reason being they have dark plumage, and their feather texture is difficult to achieve a decent IQ. I captured this guy as he came into land, and I liked the outspread wings. Taken at a birding spot in Cape Town.
Canon 50D
100-400@ 340mm
1/1250
F/6.3
ISO 640
Exp Comp +0.33
Hand Held.
Nice landing pose and eye contact. I might darken the bill area a bit.
Yes, the bill and yellow throat were way too bright (though not over). Most of the specular highlights (water droplets) showed as over-exposed so converting a bit darker would likely help.
I ran a Linear Burn on the bill and throat, reduced Yellow SAT, and added a 12% Blue Photo Filter to the yellow of the throat.
A cloudy day might be better for these high contrast subjects.
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Hi Stuart,
I love Cormorants and you've captured this landing nicely with good timing (despite his kinda awkward expression).
The image seems just a bit bright and contrasty to me, and I think it can be improved by lowering both brightness and contrast just a little.
The burn Artie did helps to bring back some detail in the beak, but I see an unpleasant dark halo as a result also.
Kenn
Stuart, Nice timing and I like the landing pose. It looks like a difficult bird to expose for.
Thank you all for the great feedback.
Artie, thanks for showing me what can be done. Much appreciated.
Hi Stu, you did very well with the timing and exposure. The detail very good too. Nice image mate.
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