Just a crop from the top. Have a few questions. Whenever I take swan shots everyone says lighten the eye. So I screened it at 100 percent and think the bird looks quite odd. Should I have left it dark. Also used flash and was wondering if I should have used less. Taken on an overcast day. Also another rule seems to be not to have things come out of the corners but I like it.
7.1
1/320
ISO 800
AV Eval/ +2/3
500mm
Flash @ - 1/ 1/3
Comments Appreciated.
Last edited by Jackie Schuknecht; 03-19-2010 at 08:26 PM.
Reason: spelling:)
Hi Jackie! To me the flash took out some of the feather detail. You can see it a little also in the water droplets where the shadow in the water was over powered. Whites are very difficult. The eye looks like it has a lot of sky reflection in it. My personal thought is a black eye is black. BUT, I am by far no expert. Wait and see what they say. You did create a nice catch light! The beak detail is awesome and the background is great with the color combination. Thanks for Sharing!
Jackie there are guidelines not rules :) Most are useful to help us come up with a good image but by no means necessary !!
Corner wise I don't think it applies, think of coming out of the corner something small like a stem etc entire bird looks fine !!
Eye wise I would lighten when it has some color and it is supoused "not to look black" some birds do have dark eyes and would leave dark !!
Flash wise remember to take a couple or three so you have something to choose. Best way to tell if the flash did some good or not is comparing to no flash or less flash !!! As Gary Mentioned the flash can take out detail by eliminating contrast.
Do like what you came up with !! Lots of detail, good pose, sharp and well exposed !!! Fine looking image !!!
Hi Jackie. I think that you need to lighten the highlights in the eye, and leave the rest dark. Actually, if you get close enough to birds eyes in overcast conditions, you'll notice that catchlights are actually reflections of the surrounding area, as opposed to the circular "catchlights" that show up in bright conditions.
regards~Bill
Hi Jackie - agree with AL - Dark eyes are fine - but eyes that are dead black holes - just dont do it for me.
I like this as is - agree maybe a little too much flash - if you take 3 shots in rapid succession you will get reduced flash power on each often the 2nd or third is better than the first.
Hi Jackie, For my taste I haven't any problems with the eye,exposure or placement. It is a bit tight and I wouldn't mind seeing more room on top and on the left. Other than that I think it's well handled...
Jackie,
I'll let the experts answer your questions. I like the composition and detail of this image. The eye looks good to me and the bill is perfect. If I had to nitpick I would say the whites under the eye are a little bright.
Peter
Thanks for all the helpful suggestions and insights. All things that would have taken me a long time to learn on my own especially the comments about improving the eyes. Hope to implement these in subsequent posts.
I knew the part about the flash but it doesn't seem to regenerate fast enough without the subject moving in to a different pose even with the supplementary battery pack with eight double "A"'s. Noticed on one of Artie's posts he seemed to have some kind of heavy duty supplementary unit. Thanks again everyone.
Jackie, looks good to me. I see you used ETTL and the -1.33 seem fine, usually I start with -2 as a default but depends on the scene. I like it a presented and like the ideal of using flash on a cloudy day to get detail.
I carry the Canon battery pack to supplement the four in the Speedlight - very helpful. You can always change to manual and set distance manually using ring on flash to assist. In this case, I think you did fine and the eyes can be worked in post if needed.
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