Surf Scoter

[Bill Dix]

D90; 80-400 VR @ 400mm. ISO 320. f/7.1 @ 1/2500s. Matrix metering @ -2.0 EV. HH. Cropped about 50%.

I know it's a lost cause to try and capture this bird at 3:00 pm on a bright sunny day; but there I was and I've never had a Surf Scoter come (almost) within range of my lens before. Exposure was almost right to protect the whites, but I know I've blocked some blacks. I tried my best in PP to salvage it - maybe there are some more tricks out there, but soft light is probably the only answer. Still, I figured I'd post it - every time I see one of these guys he reminds me of Jimmy Durante, which shows my age. C&C appreciated.

[Bob Miller]

Hi Bill.....Despite the harsh light I like your capture. The water with refection is done well! It really is one weird looking bird ! I agree that a day with soft light is the solution to the blacks ...but still as is I like it!

[Alfred Forns]

Hi Bill .... did you consider asking him to slow down and do an HDR :D

For this I would try a double conversion, one regular ( a little lighter) the other linear then put together and might come up with what you need !!! Let us know !!

[Lance Peters]

Hi - softer light - AL'S suggestion ,may also be worth a shot.
Cool bird - would love to see in better light conditions :)

[Jackie Schuknecht]

Hope you try it Bill to see how it comes out. I agree it does have the Durante nose. Hope you get more chances to photograph this species.

[Bill Dix]

Hi Bill .... did you consider asking him to slow down and do an HDR :D

For this I would try a double conversion, one regular ( a little lighter) the other linear then put together and might come up with what you need !!! Let us know !!

Thanks Al. I did first try a conversion that was lighter, and it looked terrible, so I tried again with this one. It didn't occur to me to blend the two. When I get a chance I'll give it a try. Any tips on exactly how to do this?

[Alfred Forns]

Just would place the dark on the bottom with the light one on a layer up top. Make a layer mask then hit D to set the foreground/background to B&W, select a soft brush and paint light into the dark areas. Works like a charm !!!

[Bill Dix]

Here's a redo. PS Elements 7.0 doesn't have all of the masking tools of Photoshop, but I tried to work around it using Alfred's basic concept, I think. I created two versions from RAW, one about 3 stops lighter than the other. Then I created a layer of only the black part of the bird (lighter version) and layered that over a copy of the dark background version. Some use of a low opacity eraser, plus a bit of S/H, dodging and burning created the redone image. I still clipped a few pixels at both ends, but it's definitely better. None of that could completely overcome the basic problems of harsh light and large crop, at least not with my PS skills. The resultant image is not really worth the effort involved IMHO, except as a valuable learning exercise. Thanks, Alfred, for the tip. It will come in handy sometime when I have a better image to work with. Feedback on the repost would be appreciated.

[Bill Dix]

Sorry; I seem to have entered the repost message twice, and can't figure out how to delete the second one.