Snowy American Bittern

[Michael Lotito]

Canon 1D Mark 4 With EF 500mm f4 & 1.4 tc
1/200 sec, F7.1, ISO 1250 Fill Flash at -3
Well it snowed on Long Island last week and yes I went out shooting!. Notice the snow piling up on the birds back. He was probably sitting in place for several hours. Just cropped for composition, adjusted wb & contrast and sharpened

Thanks for looking.

Mike

[Chris Martinez]

The snow in the foreground looks a bit hot. I wonder if turning the flash down a little more would have helped?(not sure though as my flash skills are lacking)
Looks like there might have been a bit of movement due to slow shutter speed?
Really like the setting. Snow covered grass(?) with falling snow is sweet.

[Arthur Morris]

Michael, You are correct sir! You need Photoshop lessons. You took the very pleasing (unproccessed) image that I saw on your i-Pad, brought it into Photoshop, and ruined it totally by simply increasing the contrast (and burning out the snow in the process....) I was gonna be blunter but it is X-mas morning :)

(In my ad for Digital Basics I talk about folks who take good images into Photoshop and make them look worse.... You should be the poster child for future ads.)

I took the "original" image that you sent me via e-mail, did a very slight color balance, lost the very large o-o-f snowflake, did a bit of Eye Doctor work, sharpened only the bird with a contrast mask, and added BLACK to the WHITEs in Selective Color (but only to the lower 3/4 of the BKGR and not to the bird.

The result is my repost here :) Merry X-mas and a belated Happy Hannukah to all.

ps: Please post the full frame original here at your convenience.

[Arthur Morris]

ps: Here is a version with the YELLOW added back in.

[Daniel Cadieux]

That is one very excellent scene you witnessed here!! I love the accumulated snow on the bittern, and the view of water at bottom. You're contrast boost was much and Artie's repost has addressed that and gave your image a beautiful natural look (although I'd be tempted to add a bit more black to the blacks on the reposts...but on the bird only). Is the bit of haze in the BG caused by rising mist from the water?

[Grace Scalzo]

Great work on the repost by Artie, your images will rock Mike once you get some post processing skills as you find the best subjects! This scene is wonderful and unique.

[Michael Bertelsen]

Michael,

Wonderful image, nice low angle, great surroundings, and with Arthur's quick repair your snow now has detail .

Michael Bertelsen

[Hazel Grant]

As you can see, this website is a great place to learn. Keep working! You have a good photo to begin with. Just don't overcorrect. Believe me, I've done it plenty of times and I'm still learning. Good eye contact, though.