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Thread: Hoodie

  1. #1
    Kurt Bowman
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    Default Hoodie

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    Hooded Mergansers are one of my favorite ducks, but I have such a problem getting a good exposure on the blacks and whites. I used a fill flash on this because it was a completly overcast day and of course I managed to to blow out the whites. I got them under control according to my histogram is PS, but wish I could get a touch more detail. I gues you can't get detail where none existed. Any suggestions on how to properly expose these guys would be great!

    7D
    300mm f/4
    1.4 tc
    480EX w/better beamer
    1/250
    f/5.6
    ISO 400
    flash at -1 1/3
    handheld

  2. #2
    Super Moderator arash_hazeghi's Avatar
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    Hi Kurt,
    I think you did fine with exposure, there are deep blacks and pure whites, parts of chest whites are blown but not bad overall given the conditions, I would lower the base exposure a bit or turn down flash power. I would also prefer a lower angle and in this case a crop from the top to eliminate the water line and the distracting elements. the bird can also take more sharpening.

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  3. #3
    Peter Farrell
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    I also like to attempt to shoot these ducks. They are winter residents here. I have the same difficulties you do, but my biggest problem is getting close enough to them, dam spooky birds. Overall I like this image. The brown fathers, eye, bill and the water look good. Keeo trying, and I will to.
    Peter
    Last edited by Peter Farrell; 01-05-2010 at 09:02 AM. Reason: typo

  4. #4
    Kurt Bowman
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    Thanks for the comments Arash, I would have loved to get a lower angle; however, couldn't have unless I was in the creek and just having back and knee surgery even limits me from laying on my stomach right now. I am a bit confused about the sharpening comment though. I tried running the bird through another round of sharpening and saw too many artifacts. I even feel like right now I can see a couple of sharpening artifacts and felt I was pushing sharpening to the limit as is. Am I not understaning something or sharpening incorrectly?

  5. #5
    Samuel Mulder
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    Kurt, how much of a crop was this? If you are unable to sharpen further without artifacts then the image may not have been sharp enough to begin with to get more detail or the crop may be too much. I think you did pretty well with the exposure, although I'd probably bump the contrast up a bit after the fact.

    I agree with the comments about the low angle. Sometimes you can't do it, but part of the game is working on finding conditions where you can :) Also, ideally you would like him facing slightly towards you. You can't always achieve an awesome image in any given circumstance, but understanding what circumstance would have made it better can help you know what you're looking for.

    Hope this helps!

  6. #6
    Lifetime Member James Salywoda's Avatar
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    A beautiful duck Kurt I think you can sharpen this one just a touch more and if it was mine I'd remove the blade of grass running vertical above the beak of the Merganser. Excellent Shot!

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