Greater Thick-knee from Chambal WLS, India

[Amano Samarpan]

It took time to make this photo as there was thick fog to begin with!

Canon 1D Mark 111

500mm f4 with a 2X extender

ISO 200

1/250'th @ f8

plus 1 EV over exposure

[Per-Gunnar Ostby]

Very cool Thick-knee and I really like the pose. Is it me or is the eye a bit unsharp?

[Daniel Cadieux]

Wow, what a beautiful bird this is!! Neat pose with a perfect HA, and I like the habitat. Although you started out with a "foggy" image (from what I can make from your description) you ended up giving the image a "harsh light" feel to it IMO. I think reducing the contrast a bit and lowering the midtones would help with this. I agree additional sharpening for web posting would also take this to another level. Well done Amano, and thanks for sharing this awesome bird:cool:

[Jim Fenton]

I agree with all of Daniels comments so all I'm gonna say is that it's a really super neat subject. Given that you created this in fog and with a 500 with a 2X on board, I'm duly impressed.

Undertake the work that Daniel suggested and this one is really gonna be nice.

[Mark Young]

Nice low angle and eye contact. The bird looks gigantic with all the small plants and rocks around it.

[Amano Samarpan]

One correction ... I had to wait until the fog cleared before I could make this photograph ... at this time there was a soft morning light falling!
The fog has more or less gone when this image was made.

Too much increase in contrast !? I decided to go back to the original and agree with your comments Dan. I wonder if the repost is what you might have expected. Too much contrast can add drama but it often ruins the subtle tones ... I was going for a blue sky but it was unnecessary.

Not quite sure what you mean by the midtones here !? Have worked a bit on the back and wings to reduce a very slight magenta caste.

Have emphasised the sharpness in the eye also.

With thanks for your comments ...

Amano

[Daniel Cadieux]

Hi Amano. Your repost is better contrast-wise, but the colours were better in your original IMO. In my reworked image I've reduced the contrast by about 20 points (you could always use a reverse S-curve instead). By midtones I mean the middle slider in "Levels". This affects all the shades that are somewhere between black and white (see the calibration strip below this page for comparision...that would be roughly the middle third of that strip - plus a little more each side). I reduced that slider until it looked good to me (this can be subjective). From your original I added a bit of blue yellow and red to adjust the colour balance - just to give it a bit of warmth. Oh, and sharpening done too.

PS can seem intimidating at first, but you'll see that in no time you'll get the hang of it and perhaps even discover new tricks yourself:cool:

[Amano Samarpan]

Hi Daniel

Yes, I am aware of Levels in Photoshop ... like your post but the bill looks sooty (as in my first post) which is not natural ... I wonder about the colours on the back ... aesthetically I prefer your post although the greens look better in mine!

Anyway, thanks for your feedback. I tend to do a lot in RAW these days rather than go into Photoshop full.

Regards

Amano

[Arthur Morris]

May we see the original?

[Amano Samarpan]

Hi Artie

Here is the original file ... the only editing done by the software converting from RAW to JPEG.

Amano

[Amano Samarpan]

When I made this photo, there was an early morning mist clearing and the sun was starting to shine.

The most difficult part of the processing was the colours on the centre back which tended to go towards magenta.

Amano

[Arthur Morris]

Thanks for the ORIG. You are making this much too difficult. My repost took one minute: basics Levels, Selective Color, and HS adjustments with a contrast mask for everything but they sky. And with all due respect I gotta say that it looks way better than anything above even at only 45 kbs.... And yes, it is all in Digital Basics.

[Arthur Morris]

PS: Everyone above was cropping too tightly :)

[denise ippolito]

Artie, I like this crop much better and I like the way you processed it. It might have a tiny tiny bit too much red?

[Amano Samarpan]

Thanks for the repost Artie ... but yes Denise, you have spotted the spot!

Amano

[Arthur Morris]

Amano, Do not miss the forest for the trees. Even if there is a slight red cast, the wider crop and the natural look of my repost makes it 1,000 times better then either the image in Pane #1 or Pane #6. If you fail to acknowledge this fact you will be doomed to continue ruining your images during the optimization process :) And I will let you proceed down that path.

[Amano Samarpan]

Artie, as a self confessed tree hugger, I am probably going to miss the forest for the trees.

I disagree that your repost is 1,000 times better than mine, it is 100,000 times better ...:D
however, this does not stop me tweaking your repost in Levels (less magenta, less yellow)

Any further comment!?

Chrz
Amano

[Arthur Morris]

I like the 100,000 part :) What you need to do is to simplify your approach so that you actually improve your images in Photoshop :)

[Amano Samarpan]

Thanks Artie ... yes, I find myself continually working on the basics of optimisation to arrive at something that is both life-like and artistic in effect!

Amano

[Arthur Morris]

Good plan. Sometimes I think that you get too caught up in the finer points while..... Heck, it that can't see the forest for the tress thing again.