Lovebirds
We have a large number of Bald Eagles at this time of year, but little sunlight. I took advantage of a brief opportunity. This is a mated pair. 7D, 800mm f5.6. f7.1, 1/1250 sec., ISO 400, manual exposure. Edited in DPP and Photoshop. I cloned a little gore off of the larger bird's beak.
Hal
Hi Hal - Like the poses - such a majestic animal.
Main issue here is the angle of the light - with parts of the birds in deep shadows - the blacks are blocked (no detail) IMHO - with these guys you have to get the exposure close in camera and soft light will help keep details in the darks and not blow the whites. The front of the bird on the left is a little distracting as his/her breast pretty much lacks any detail at all. Try and get a position were the sun is at your back to provide even illumination on your subjects.
Looking forward to seeing more :)
Lance:
I wonder if spot metering on the bird's chest would have brought out more detai? As you know sometimes, the photographer cannot position themselves without disturbing the bird or sometimes its not possible to be in a different location.
You are totally correct about the sun angle, but the view was obstructed from anywhere else, mainly by the tree trunk, and that one of the birds would be in front of the other. I would like to meter on the feathers, but the heads would be blown. any auggestions on how to do that? Thank you both.
Hal
Hi Hal
The composition here is very appealing. But as you noted, the light is a problem. I did a little processing to see if I could lighten the image and also to get the birds a bit sharper. I opened the file in PS CS4, did a bit of lightening in Levels and also established the white point. I then added a bit of high pass sharpening. I think it helps some, but the dark areas are still awkward.
Cheers
Gail
Hi Hal - Yep only one suggestion - SOFTER LIGHT. Really nothing else is going to help - the dynamic range is outside what your camera can capture - so softer light becomes the only answer as it decreases the dynamic range present.Originally Posted by Hal Everett
Hi Reza The spot metering has nothing to do with getting more detail If you meter the breast area and come up with a correct exposure you blow the whites !!
As Lance pointed out all you can do is shoot in softer light !!! ... in this case the correct sun angle would have lit up the birds !!!
Alas, the correct sun angle was not possible because the tree trunk would have been in the way and the eagles would have been blocking the view of each other. Here is another one where the sun was directly behind me. It is still a fine balance between the feather detail and blowing the withes
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