American Egret - Rookery

[David Gancarz]

This from Feb 2010 at Gatorland, early on during the nesting season. I spent some hours cleaning up a horizontal shadow across the egret's head as well a a vertical twig up and in front of the bird's body -- all using Artie's quick mask technique, The challenge was working with the subtle lighting on the whites. Done badly it can look like the bird has a shunt (as in the medical device) just under its feathers where the twig/shadow fell. Inexpensive lens hand held. Budget-challenged photographers take heart! BTW, Santa did not bring me my 500 f4 Nikkor, even though I was good :(.

Date/Time Original : 2010:02:20 17:48:17
Camera Model Name : NIKON D300
Lens ID : AF-S VR Zoom-Nikkor 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6G IF-ED
Shutter Speed : 1/500
Aperture : 8.0
ISO : 500
White Balance : Auto
Focal Length : 155.0 mm (35 mm equivalent: 232.0 mm)
Focus Distance : 7.50 m
Depth Of Field : 0.74 m (7.15 - 7.89)
Auto Focus : On
Focus Mode : AF-S
Shooting Mode : Continuous, Auto ISO
AF Area Mode : Dynamic Area (21 points)
Exposure Program : Aperture-priority AE
Exposure Compensation : +1/3
Exposure Mode : Auto
Vibration Reduction : On
Flash Source : None
External Flash Firmware : n/a
External Flash Flags : (none)
Flash Mode : Did Not Fire
Flash Exposure Compensation : 0
Quality : RAW
Color Space : Adobe RGB

[Randy Stout]

David:

At normal magnification, I can't see your clone work on the head, good job.

Nice display of the aigrettes and lores.

The whites look a little hot on the back.

I would consider vignetting the corners, esp. the RU so that the bright stick doesn't lead our eyes out of the frame.

Cheers

Randy

[David Gancarz]

Thanks, Randy. Yes, it is hot on the back. I had not considered vignetting. I'll give that a try.

[Colin Driscoll]

The plumage display is dominant enough at first glance to not notice other stuff without further study. Great cloning work.

[David Gancarz]

\
I would consider vignetting the corners, esp. the RU so that the bright stick doesn't lead our eyes out of the frame.

Randy: Your suggestion greatly improves the aesthetics of the image. Here is the rework. Thanks much. I also applied more recovery to the highlights. Whites are still pegged in the center, but I don't think I mind that too much as the radial effect seems to compensate.