Gull

[Mike Vanecek]

This was shot with the following specs

Camera: Canon EOS-1D Mark IV
Exposure: 0.001 sec (1/2000)
Aperture: f/10.0
Focal Length: 280 mm
ISO Speed: 400
Exposure Bias: -1 EV
Original images available in a zip.

It has been cropped and tweaked in LR w and Nik Define 2. The original image had a little bit more noise than I expected from a 1D Mk IV.

Would it help to mask select the upper wing and do more sharpening? What do I do next?



Thanks.

[arash_hazeghi]

Welcome to BPN Mike,
You succeeded in getting the gull but I am afraid the image is relatively poor otherwise.
First the gull is flying away from the camera, second light is harsh, third the photo is severely underexposed by pointing the camera towards sky and using -1 EV compensation, if anything, you should have dialed + 1EV. Fourth you have tried to lift the exposure and have added excessive sharpening to an image that suffered from motion blur, this has created lots of noise and artifacts.

I saw that you were complaining about MKIV in the gear forum, IMO no camera will solve your problem, there is a lot of resources on this website that explain how to take a good photograph and how to correctly process the RAW files, that's were you need to start.

Hope you don't take my comments personally and wish you best of luck.

[Lance Peters]

Hi Mike - the secret with noise regardless of what camera you use is to get the exposure as close as possible - lightening the image in post processing will only make the noise worse. So first step is to understand what your histogram is telling you and to turn your over exposure warning on - with this you will see any area;s that are blown out flash as you review the image on the camera's LCD screen.

In the histogram above you see that the data (spikes) are pretty much in the centre - you want to push these as far to the right of the histogram as you can - without blowing out (no detail) any of the whites.
Also worth getting a idea f how your meter works in your camera - if you don't already have ArtiE'S CD - The Art of Bird Photography II - I whole heartedly recommend it - the bible for bird photography.

Keep at it and keep them coming, always here to help :)

[Mike Vanecek]

Thanks all. So many things to learn and so little time. It is nice to know that it is operator problems rather than camera problems. I have just started getting into Art's material (along with a lot of other books & CDs). I knew that the sky would tell the meter that it was too bright and that it would underexpose to bring it to the 18% gray. I was on a moving boat, had not seen anything all morning, and the gull was available (yes I know, excuses, excuses). I gotta go take some more photos of anything just to learn. I really do appreciate you all taking the time to comment -- being able to get feedback on one's own image rather than seeing one in a book is very helpful.

[Alfred Forns]

Big Warm Welcome Mike !!!!

Sound advice from Arash and I'm sure he did not mean any harm just driving a point home to help out !!

For these birds to avoid frustration try photographing with soft light if you want keepers, if all you want is practice flight just bast away !! Just about any white bird will be difficult with harsh light particularly overhead !!

When reading Arties book zero in on the area you want and go over it several times, can go back and forth to any section and will be able to see results quickly !! btw commenting on posts is one of the best ways to advance, teaches you to look at an image and analyze !!

[Mike Vanecek]

Alfred,

Thank you kindly. Arash PM'd me with exactly the same sentiment. Anyone that will take time to offer help is welcome to drive points anytime. No offense was intended and none was taken.

I am experimenting with the gull to see if I can use CSR4 to salvage something out of it. After cropping, I added a screen layer on top of it to adjust the exposure and then added a couple of curves. I still need to make some local mods and tackle the noise again. A little bit more and maybe it will be OK. I just like the bird's expression.

Other than still learning how to take photographs, the post processing side has been a jumble of learning curves. I have studied many different sources, but few that I have found take a problem image through the entire process and explain not only what they are doing, but why. I am going to try the Kelby online courses with the hope that watching it in action and doing it myself will penetrate a cloudy left brain and maybe wake up the right side.

Regards,

Mike