Subbu, love the details in the blacks. Very nice exposure. Love that fanned tail, the hairdo and that awesome foot.
If anything, I wish the BG was green or less bright at the bottom and a slight more head turn.
Lovely capture!
I think the subtle feather pattern on the back is great. Crest, soft background, all nice.
The soft light helped on everything except the eye, which is a bit dark, at least compared to our commorants.
subbu no doubt this is one of the best image i've seen of this chap from our region. best angle, focus, bg, perch. what i earlier suggesting was i posted here.
1. chroma noise can be eliminated in neck and tail over black.
2. Color correction made from warmer to cooler.
3. some level work based on the histo done.
4. bg extending to bottom which was giving weight (Though i would not do but as this is a great frame i think giving it a go for some use would be great and useful)
5. would give a bit lesser sharpness.
some bad touching is there near legs but this was quick edit as i've no mouse with me which helps me giving fine masking / touch up at office on my laptop
Hope you wont mind dear.
Last edited by Mital Patel; 09-23-2010 at 12:16 PM.
Reason: text
Subbu - a gorgeous shot - I love the feather detail you have achieved.
I don't understand the rationelle behind your choice of exposure settings though - what did the overcast conditions have to do with your choice to open the lens up given the 1/5000s shutter speed? (unless that is a typo - 1/500s maybe?)
I think the changes Mital has made with the levels and extending the background to the bottom is an improvement, but I would personally try to keep some of those original yellows at the bottom and just tone down the brightness.
I love the textures and patterns of the plumage on the wings!! Good vertical comp. A better HA (a bit more towards us) would have made this image even stronger! I like Mital's colour correction on the cormorant...making it less green, especially on the face.
Great shot. Like Mital's revised version a lot. Sharpness on the back and tail of the cormorant look a bit "fake" (in other words: improved in post-processing) to me. Especially given that the image was taken at F4 and 500 mm. JR
Outstanding image gorgeous colours and I also like the repost very much indeed. I am a little puzzled over the exposure being -2/3, the bird is darker than the background so if anything I would have increased exposure. Whatever the reason though it clearly worked!!
Thanks for tour comments. And sorry for the late reply. I was out of town for last two days on an office work.
Thanks Mital- for your PP suggestions.
FYI-- I have not used selective sharpening- or equivalent tools to sharpen the tail, or other parts of the bird. I under exposed the image just to get better shutter speed as the light was very dull. And later tried to recover the highlights in PP.
I saw this a while back and did not get to post. Superb image and superb repost. The bird is quite similar to our Great Cormorant, rarely photographed in breeding plumage.
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