White-faced Heron (Portrait)
Taken this morning. For some reason lately when I'm not photographing shorebirds I'm trying to get portrait shots of everything else!
Canon 400 300f4 +1.4tc, ISO400, 1/1000, f5.6, +0.3, Av mode, Ev metering
Cropped approx 20%, slight SH adjust. NR on bg and USM on the Heron.
Mark, The detail and soft colors are gorgeous. I would have lightened the eye just a tad, IMHO. Beautiful..... Congrats!!
Beautiful portrait,Mark. Great detail and I like the wind blown head feathers.
Peter
Hi Mike
A nice portrait with soft gentle colours that compliment each other very well. I think it just needs a fraction more in both Curves and Contrast to help it 'pop' a little more in the detail, add a fraction more in USM only on the Heron. Not ideal at this size, but might help.
All the best
Steve
Post Production: It’s ALL about what you do with the tools and not, which brand of tool you use.
hi MARK - Lots to like here - Good HA and eye contact - Sharp as a tack - love the soft pastelly colours of the BG.
Steve's repost gives it that little bit of added POP.
Like t!!
Thanks everyone for viewing and commenting.
Steve, I like your repost. The improvements look great. What adjustment did you make in curves?
Hi Mark...loving the soft bg and beautiful details....the repost works!
Hi Mark, sharp bird and lovely bg. The delicate palette, especially the lower bg, makes this image wonderful for me. Great job!!
Oh, forgot: agree with Richard on brightening the eye (the repost still doesn't get there, IMO)
Hi Mark
All I did in Curves was select both the Black & White droppers, click on a relevant area ie Black, then move the point in curves just a fraction to lift it. In contrast I think I added +10 and perhaps 50-70 in USM, this being the top figure, not sure what you use for the other two.
Re the eye, if you lighten/brighten it, it will look false and stand out too much. The colours and very delicate and any increase in Saturation, Hue, Brightness etc will takeaway a lot of the subtle qualities this image has, however as the photographer you have to make that decision. :)
Post Production: It’s ALL about what you do with the tools and not, which brand of tool you use.
Thanks for viewing and commenting everyone. Thanks Steve for elaborating on your PS work.
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