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Thread: Extreme croping and digital processing

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    Default Extreme croping and digital processing

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    This image is what I call an extreme crop, far beyond my usual limit that it is about 5,5Mp (I am using a 12Mp body) but, when the quality of the file is very good (great light, close distance to the subject, clean air, etc) it is amazing the things that you can do with a digital file with just some digital upsizing.
    This white stork was posing in the early morning light, in a marine rocky cliff (same place shown in this kestrel image http://www.birdphotographers.net/for...ad.php?t=63609 ) with a fantastic deep blue background, the ocean. The light was so good and the bird so cooperative that I spend a good part of the morning shooting white stork portraits, something that I usually can not do. From the first time I knew that I wanted to get a couple of frames with exactly this composition but soon I realized that it was not possible to get it in the field (not enough focal length and no way to get closer to the bird without disturbance) and I knew that I would need some cropping and, perhaps a file resizing to obtain my composition.
    Once at the computer -"ordenador" is how we call computers in Spain, by the way-, and after croping, I ended with a file of about 1-1,5Mp. Then I decided to test some upsizing in photoshop from what in my opinion is a healthy crop. I am not very good with maths do not ask me details about numbers, please :p. From the crop, I ended with an upsized image of 2500x1667 pixels (that is 4,16Mp if I am not wrong) using a plain bicubic resample in photoshop but I think that it can be done better than I did (Fabs, I have to try the Genuine Fractals) and I am really happy with the result.
    I think that the quality of the 4,16Mp image is good enough to support a reasonably sized printing and I think that this file can support even more resizing and a higher enlargement.
    More details of this crop and the original file are availables at my blog http://lazumaya.blogspot.com/

    Regarding the processing job, it is quite simple in this case, just a selective noise reduction to the BG (in a separate layer to avoid loss of details in the contact areas between the BG and the bird), resizing, sharpening on the bird and color adjustment. By the way, the BG is smoother and noise is less visible in the original file than in this jpeg

    I would love to hear your thoughts about it and, as always, your comments and suggestions are welcomed

    Juan

    Nikon D300, AFS Nikkor 500VR+1,4XTC, handheld, manual exposure, f8, 1/640s, ISO500
    Last edited by Juan Aragonés; 05-22-2010 at 01:59 AM.

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    Details of the original RAW, and crop at 100% size.

  3. #3
    Robert O'Toole
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    Juan,

    I like the crop and diagonal comp compared with the original for sure. Lighting is definitely dramatic.

    Nice and sharp for the large crop and 1/640 hand-held.

    Genuine fractals used to be a great upgrade compared to plain old Photoshop but the new releases like CS4-5 are just as good from what I learned when I looked into it for a friend recently.

    Robert

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    Forum Participant Joe Senzatimore's Avatar
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    Just love what you have done. It is clean , simple and retained great detail. The composition you chose is perfect and the light just puts it over the top.

  5. #5
    Judy Lynn Malloch
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    Very striking image and I too like your choice of crop. Well done !!

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    Thanks for posting this, Juan. I am surprised by and impressed with the detail you achieved and I appreciate the explanation of your process. And the image is stunning!

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    BPN Member Tony Whitehead's Avatar
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    Very nice job, Juan. Thanks for the explanation and comprehensive illustration. I am always amazed at the amount of cropping that some files will stand. Nice simple comp with the diagonal and great BG. I like these close portraits that reveal details that we cannot appreciate with the naked eye.
    Tony Whitehead
    Visit my blog at WildLight Photography for latest news and images.

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    Thanks for your coments, much apreciated :)
    Robert I use CS4 and it seems that upsizing works very well but being honest, I have no experience with upsizing nor with Genuine Fractals, this one is my first attempt ;)

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    Apart from all said above, those of us living in Spain know how hard it can be to find such a beautifully clean White Stork...
    To me, this shot goes to show how you can still do something striking and original from a very photographed subject. Congrats.

  10. #10
    Ofer Levy
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    Nice light, colours and detail. However, I don't see the justification for this unusal crop. Would prefer to see it as a more traditional head shot.

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    Ignacio and Ofer thanks for your words :)

    Ofer, I have a more traditional crop of this image in my blog and it works for me but, at the end of the day, it is just this composition the one I prefer the most. Why? It is not a traditional portrait (there are a lot of them and I have a bunch of them); it has more graphic power (in my opinion) and center the attention of the observer on two of the main identity features of the stork´s character: a dark eye in the middle of a white face and a powerful red bill.

    It is just a matter of personal creativity and the intention to make something different from a traditional composition. I think that it is hard to find a better justification than this one.

  12. #12
    Ofer Levy
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    Quote Originally Posted by Juan Aragonés View Post

    It is just a matter of personal creativity and the intention to make something different from a traditional composition. I think that it is hard to find a better justification than this one.
    Can't agree more!! ;)

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