Early effort after getting back into photography after 30+ year hiatus. Have not yet figured out how to wind the cf cards in the camera. must read the manual
canon 7D 100-400 f/4l usm is handheld Focal length 250 manual mode f/6.3 ISO 400 , 1/320s
back/sidelit Hornbill
Early effort after getting back into photography after 30+ year hiatus. Have not yet figured out how to wind the cf cards in the camera. must read the manual
canon 7D 100-400 f/4l usm is handheld Focal length 250 manual mode f/6.3 ISO 400 , 1/320s
Hello again, Steve! Good to see you posting. Thanks for including your technical specs - we can't critique an image without them. It would also be helpful though if you let us know what software editing program you use and a short history of what you did in post-production (pp) so we can help with that, too. For instance, how did you get the white BG? Did you push the exposure in the camera or in the editing software?
The one thing I noticed first about this was the cut off tail at the bottom of the frame. For the most part, we want to either get all of the bird in the frame or we want a tight crop of the head/shoulder area (more of a close-up portrait look). There are exceptions, of course, but this is the norm.
I also noticed you went with a horizontal crop yet you have a very vertical bird. I find it helps not to get too attached to the foliage or other background (BG) items but to look at the focal point on its own and decide how to crop based on its shape.
One last thing...you have the bird very centered in the frame of the image. There's a great thread in the educational forum about the Rule of Thirds and how to set up the grid in Photoshop (if you have CS5 you've got it whenever you crop). Learning to position the bird within the frame so it has the most impact will be something else you can work on.
You got an excellent head angle (HA) on this beautiful bird and that's really important. Overall, I'd say youre bird is probably a little underexposed (especially near the tail) as it is deeply shadowed and the head area seems really soft. Check your histogram and look at moving the darks up a bit and see if that opens up even more detail in the back and tail feathers.
Glad to see you posting! Feel free to ask questions and be sure to jump into critiquing as well. You'll learn more by viewing other people's images than your own because you'll be much more objective.
Last edited by Julie Kenward; 01-28-2011 at 07:40 PM.
Hi Steve. Read the manual? Now let's not go to extremes!
He is one cool looking bird. I have a few thoughts about this one.
Firstly, I think cutting off the tip of his tail hurt it somewhat. Secondly, his face is in the shadows. A bit of fill-flash might help this. Third is the fact that he's centered in the frame. I think a vertical crop moving him slightly to the viewer's left would help. I'd love to see what the more experienced folk say.
Welcome back after your brief hiatus from photography. Your CF card winder is probably in your darkroom :)
EDIT: Oh my, Jules and I were typing at the same time ... I guess I HAVE learned something here :)
Last edited by Ian Cassell; 01-28-2011 at 07:36 PM.
Many thanks for the feedback.
On this photo as well as any I took on the trip, the editing was done on my maiden voyage into Lightroom or any editing software. I had less a clue then than I do now which is not much. I love non destructive edits! so I can go back and improve these while I learn. Yeah!
Jules, the white sky is what I shot. Generally, my white balance is set to cloudy when I am shooting wildlife as I think it adds a bit of warmth. might not be best practice but that is what I do.[IMG]file:///C:/Users/STEVEN%7E1/AppData/Local/Temp/moz-screenshot.png[/IMG][IMG]file:///C:/Users/STEVEN%7E1/AppData/Local/Temp/moz-screenshot-1.png[/IMG]
The shadows show you that the sun was very low and I was shooting slightly away from the sun.I went back and looked at the editing history on Lightroom. The histogram is not pegged but as you expect heavily weighted to the right
In what is shown, I added .36 exposure and +15 fill light +40 clarity and +31 vibrance. One thing that caught my eye on this bird was the translucence of the bill. I want to be sure to highlight that. suggestions appreciated.
I did not crop the tail in LR3. I did it in the frame on the first day in Africa. I guess like many who are witnessing the bountiful wildlife in Africa for the first time, I had a hair trigger!
However I did use the rule of thirds since the guides are displayed whenever you crop. I apparently bumped the crop when I exported the file to post. I will fix it when I repost. would love all suggestions as I will try them and let you know how they work out.
I thought Artie and I might be the only grandpas old enough that knew what I meant. Glad to know there are some folks on here that remember the despair of shooting a days worth of film shots yet learning when you got the roll back from development that you had failed to wind the new roll of film on the spool properly
Originally Posted by Ian Cassell
Steve, interesting bird and I like the back lighting that illuminates the bill as you pointed out. For me that is the focal point in this photo. I agree with the suggestions of trying to get the tail in the shot as well as a vertical crop would work better for me. I often fail to shoot these shots in vertical frame and it is something I have to constantly think about as I shoot. One last suggestion, I would selectively lighten the eyes (since it is too late for the fill flash as Ian correctly suggested). They look like they have some personality that you could bring out a bit more. Good post.
Lots of good ideas already suggested.
Just keep posting and also have a look at the other photos and comment on them as well.
It sounds like you already have a good understanding of photography so looking forward to seeing more.
Dave
Hi Steve- Neat bird. Would love to see one in the wild!
I'll add to the above that it is always beneficial to try to be at bird-eye level, more or less, when making and image. Shooting up into a tree or a post-top almost never works unless you fake it by using a long lens and shoot from a distance so the angle is not so severe. If you are lucky and the bird looks down at you in this situation, the camera angle can seem almost flat. This applies of course to birds below you too, which means that kneeling or lying down is often necessary to get that nice low angle.
