WHAT-SUP???

[Don Hamilton Jr.]

Little guy looked a bit confused to see me on my belly in the sand.:cool:
Camera Model Canon EOS 7D
Firmware Firmware Version 1.1.0
Shooting Date/Time 8/13/2010 60:35 PM
Author DON_HAMILTON_JR.flyinghamiltons@comcast.net
Copyright Notice 2010
Owner's Name
Shooting Mode Aperture-Priority AE
Tv( Shutter Speed ) 1/125
Av( Aperture Value ) 8.0
Metering Mode Evaluative Metering
Exposure Compensation +2/3
ISO Speed 640
Auto ISO Speed OFF
Lens EF500mm f/4L IS USM
Focal Length 500.0mm
Image Size 5184x3456
Image Quality RAW
Flash On
Flash Type Manual Flash
Flash Exposure Compensation 0
Shutter curtain sync 1st-curtain sync

[Thanaboon Jearkjirm]

The bird looks sharp and well expose, good detail in black and white, nice use of flash. Also like the low angle captured. Might consider less room on the right and more on the left.

[Ravi Hirekatur]

I like the curious pose, nice composition, good exposure and sharpness. Agree with the above comment on cropping.

[Lance Peters]

Hi Don - like this a lot - like the low shooting angle - Ha looks good - nice catchlight in the eyes. Nice and sharp to boot and like the pose. BG has quite a blue cast to it??
Doing well with the slow shutter speed. Techs look solid.
Well done!

[Don Hamilton Jr.]

Thks Lance, i noticed that as well, what causes that, and what correction do you use to change that. i did use curves and corect my white and black point.
Cheers:
Don

[Tom Redd]

Don, nice post, very sharp and detailed, good DOF.

[Dave Leroy]

Pretty pose and I like the use of the flash. If mine I might take a slice off the bottom to lose the oof fg.

Sorry can't help on the colour cast, but you might try bumping the WB to warm photo up a bit.

[Julie Kenward]

Don, what a beautiful and interesting pose you got from this bird! I did a few minor tweaks to see how they would change the original.

I added an inch of canvas to the left side and recropped the image so there was less right and bottom and more on the left (where the bird is looking).

Then I opened a levels adjustment and grabbed the midtones eyedropper (on the side of the levels box) and touched it to the middle gray area in the upper middle BG. This instantly calmed the blue cast down. Another option would be to open a hue/adjustment layer, choose "blues" and try lowering the saturation - sometimes that works as well.

I then opened a filters/lens distortion correction layer where I changed the angle to be "-2" degrees - that seemed to take away that "uphill" look to this legs.

Next, I used a "paint by light" action with the soft brush set to 20% opacity and black as the FG color and lightly swept it over the bright strip in the BG around the middle of the bird. This helped the bird stand out from the BG just a bit more so your eye doesn't go to the lighter area in the BG.

Finally, I popped the eye with an automatic curves adjustment to the eye area only and then reduced the opacity until it looked natural but more intense.

I know it seems like a lot of changes but they are all very small, minor tweaks to a very nice original image. It's often the little tiny things that make a strong image really strong - see what you think...

[Don Lacy]

Hi Don, Nice image really like the look back. The image does have a slight blue cast to it that Jules corrected but unfortunately she added a red cast with her correction if you take a reading off the black tail feathers on her version you see that the red channel is at 38 green at 19 and the blue channel is reading 6. You really want to set the values of the lightest and darkest areas of the image to correct a color cast then set the mid tones if needed. Here is my version that i corrected in curves while not perfect the blacks give you the following values 18,16, and 17 and the whites are at 245,244,and 244.

[Roman Kurywczak]

Hey Don (H),
I think you did a very nice job with this overall and I like the direction Jules crop takes it. I have to admit.....I'm looking at the OP and Don Lacy's repost......might have to put them side by side color wise! I actually like the warmer tones of Jules repost.......so the choice is yours! Way to creep up and capture this fine juvi!

[Julie Kenward]

Don, I see where your repost is probably closer to true life than mine and you certainly used a better way of getting there...not having ever seen this bird in person I thought I came pretty close but did wonder if the reds were still too strong. Nice work!

[Don Lacy]

I'm looking at the OP and Don Lacy's repost......might have to put them side by side color wise!

The difference is subtle but noticeable on a calibrated monitor( I am no insinuating your monitor is not calibrated:)) the biggest difference is in the whites the original posted image has the following values R 224 G 221 B 217.