Here is a shot I took this week at Merritt Island.
I like the shot, but the reeds and their reflections throw me off a bit.
I didn't do any cloning because I wanted some of you to look at
it and give me some advice.
I don't think I could get rid of the ones behind, but maybe the ones
on the side could go.
In any event.
Taken with
Mark 1 DSII
500L with 2TC
ISO 400
F8 1/1600
Some vibrance added and cropped. No noise reduction.
Great eye contact, he had his eye on you for sure, but because he was doing normal bird activity, resting, I don't think he was too stressed out.
The image needs a couple of degrees of counter clockwise rotation.
The whites are pretty hot in several spots. You might want to consider reconverting in ACR to see if you can save them.
I think with a bit of selective blurring and darkening of the background sticks, it will work well. Yes, I would consider removing the little branch angling up under the breast.
Thanks for sharing. I am rather partial to spoonbills my self.
Very nice image. I agree with you that the reeds are a bit of a distraction but thats a tough cloning job. Maybe just blur and darken as Randy suggests.
The rotation helps, the whites are better too. For my taste , it is still too saturated, and you are losing details in the reds. It is usually the red channel that blow in these situations, so try to really watch the red histogram while shooting.
Part of the difficulty is the harsh side lighting. I know, you have to work with what you have, but it often exceeds the dynamic range of the camera, and you either clip the whites, blacks, or both!
You can help a bit by reducing the contrast with a small reverse S curve adjustment in curves.
Look forward to more!
I posted a spoonie in avian yesterday, where the softer frontal lighting made the exposure easier to work with.
I think it pretty accurately shows the color balance/saturation.
Spoonbill in Hiding
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