problems
This is a Greater Yellowlegs fishing for sticklebacks in the Sackville Waterfowl Park.
What are the problems with this image and what could I have done in the field and in post processing to fix or at least help out.
Date: 5 September, 2010, Time: 07:29h
Model: Canon EOS-1D Mark IV
Lens: EF500mm f/4L IS USM +1.4x @ 700 mm
Program: Manual
ISO 800, 1/1250s, f/6.3
Exp. comp.: 0.0
Flash: on, Flash exp. comp.: 0.0
Last edited by John Chardine; 09-05-2010 at 08:56 AM. Reason: ID!
I don't see any problems here...
If I have to pick anything it would be the reflection of the head is not strong enough, so I would loose the reflection and go for other composition. There also side lighting but I can see the details clearly in the shadow part and I actually like the side lighting here since it adds dimension to the image. Maybe tone down the breast and neck area a bit. Don't know if 1/1250s is too fast for flashes or not, don't know what is the limit for high speed sync.
I also like the environment shown on the left.
Last edited by Thanaboon Jearkjirm; 09-05-2010 at 01:18 PM. Reason: flash
Nice image. I think the reflection is tilted, image needs a bit of CCW rotation. regards~Bill
John,
Greetings. Seems a little warm to me with a lot of red in the brighter feathers. Toned down a bit (LAB curves :) ). Slightly darkened foreground. I also tried a crop w/o the reflection (it doesn't stand on its own, so I think it is more of a distraction). The flash picked up a lot of detail in the shadows (which I think would have been lost without the fill).
Thanks for posting (oh, by the way, posted w/o color profile, would be good if posted with it... for those viewing with color managed browsers).
Cheers,
-Michael-
Micheal- Thanks for the repost. The light was warm given the time of day, and the question is- do you remove this cast caused by the sunlight going through a thick layer of the atmosphere, or do you leave it? Well done on the LAB colour correction. And a very good tip about including the colour profile for colour-aware browsers like Safari. I must have my Save for Web and Devices set to not include the profile. I suppose it takes up some space so you would have to save with a more aggressive jpeg compression. I'll check this out and see what the consequences are.
Thanaboon picked up the side-lighting, which for me is an image killer even in this case where I have attempted to fill the shadows with flash. If I could have moved around so that the sun was behind me I would have. Question- why does side-lighting work in landscapes and portraiture but not in wildlife photography, or does it? BTW there's no limit for high-speed sync, but as your shutter speed gets faster, the flash has to flash more times and therefore each individual flash is weaker. I would agree that at some distances, as you increase your shutter speed you would no longer see the effect of the flash because it would be too week, even though it is still flashing (this would also depend on ambient light levels as well). Certainly at the ss I used and at that distance I was getting a flash effect. I agree the reflection isn't strong and you always have to ask if it's worth keeping it or not.
I agree with Bill, the image needs some CCW rotation. No much, maybe 1-2°. The ripples around the feet give it away.
Great fun!!
John, I like the image, especially the wing spread, water drop and 'island', but the side-lighting is a problem that the flash didn't completely resolve. I don't know if a little bit of s/h or other intervention might help to brighten the underwing and reduce the highlights. I personally prefer the warm tones of the OP and think that when the cast is a result of nice light conditions maybe it is OK to leave it. To my eye, based on the reflections of the OP, the image doesn't need much if any rotation, but I'm not always right about this. A lower shooting angle might have been nice if possible. I agree with Michael's crop to take out the reflection. My $.02.
John,Originally Posted by John Chardine
Greetings. Yeah, I figured the cast was in the lighting. I'm a little uncertain how I feel about environmental light color and the impact on subject color. When I see an orange egret in flight, I still think I need to be told that it's okay 'cuz it's flying into the sunset - unless there are clouds in the bg to set the scene without the verbiage. The OP does have indicators of time of day (sidelight & foliage).
I think the color profile is only 3-4K bytes irrespective of image size. One can learn a lot from the full metadata (still less than 10K) if one were willing to expose all that.... Focus point, all the camera settings, even where taken if hooked up to a GPS. I think it would be a great addition to ETL if folks posted their full exif (as I do ;) ). ymmv...
And... I can't thank you enough for posting the info about LAB mode editing. It's been a real eye opener for me and I find I'm using it more and more.
Cheers,
-Michael-
Where is the post about LAB mode editing? Interested in that as well.
http://www.birdphotographers.net/for...t-Improvements
Scroll down to post #10... several long posts. Should maybe be added to Tutorials & Educational Resources... John?
Cheers,
-Michael-
Thank you for the link.
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