Read several posts regarding head angle (HAP!) and realized that in most of my images i've failed to go for eye contact and head angle. I think this Junko is better in that regard. There were lots of branches in the way and I spent a lot ot time practicing with the clone tool. Made some curve adjustemtns to dampen the highlights on the wing. Used the midtone slider on the bottom of the curve adj. window and it darkened just the background - Why did it just adjust the background?? I sharpended once using 350,.2 & 0. Iiked the sharpness better in LR before I converted. I'm having a bit of trouble with sharpenin in PS - can't seem to tell much differene - perhaps I'm not doing it right!
Canon 30D, 700mm (500 4.0 + 1.4 TC) ISO 100, f/5.6, 1/125, ev -1.49, cropped - hope it's not too tight!
Appreciate your critiques - trying to get bertter:D
Sharpening can be tricky Remember to size the image for its use before sharpening If it is posting most likely will be at 100% Cntrl + will get you there
I use smart sharpen with a radius of .3 then sharpen to taste Haven't use usm much
You can also buy a third party plug in for sharpening I also use PhotKit Sharpener Will allow capture sharpening according to source, local sharpening tools and output to resolution/need
With your image the main thing I see is harsh light If you could meter the bright part of the tail and darkest around breast there will be more that six stops Light was from the left Besides the head angle we need sun angle
As presented there is a darker area in the breast area. Fill flash would have helped but why not illuminate with natural light (even)
Thanks Alfred, it's tough to get these guys to stay put long enough to meter on a specific area - plus I was shooting in harsh light, so my error in the first place. Thanks for the sharpening tips.
Once you stare at one of these images for a while with the clone tool in hand it is easy to miss seeing things. The pose is nice and the light has already been covered. There is a bit of blur in front of the breast from some wok there, maybe with a feathered or loose selection. Then the perch just sorta fades off on the end.
In PS when you don't notice a difference with the sharpening, try cranking it way up to 500% to make sure you have all your selections and such in the right places. Move it back down from there.
All that said, I think you did end up with a nice sharp eye and a bit of shadow highlights might help tone down the light a bit.
Hi Jim - yeah, I really messed up the brest area trying to recover after all the branch removal with clone tool. I think Alfred is trying to gently remind me to create better images from the get go. It was good practice in PS however. Thanks for your sharpening tips!
Darkeyed Junko
