Hi Allen. Hum...a bird with white and black plummage, and a less than ideal light for the situation; a recipe for disaster. I see serious problems. Can you guess the worst one? Then we'll see how it can be dealt with next time you come across a surf scooter or a similar colored bird. regards~Bill
Hi Allen. Yes, the blacks are clipped, but there is still some detail left on the body of the bird. The colours and whites look lovely though and the blue of the water sets off the bird nicely. I like the waterdrops in the air and the angle at which you shot this is also nice.
I like the idea of this image. One comment not yet made has to do with the crop. I might have gone just a bit tighter and moved the bird up and to the right given the head angle YMMV.
Regarding the exposure, from the angle of the shadow the sun light may have been less than ideal. Is there any way to process the image again and get more detail in the blacks?
Wow, Allen, that's some bill on that bird! I do see some detail in the blacks but they do look seriously clipped. Did you try a shadow/highlight adjustment in PS? You might be able to get some more detail out of this one. You did a good job on freezing the action of the water and you get extra points for going low!!!
Hi Allen. I think that the underexposue of the dark parts of the image is the problem and Jon summed it up best "Regarding the exposure, from the angle of the shadow the sun light may have been less than ideal. Then the very pertinent question " Is there any way to process the image again and get more detail in the blacks?"
The answer to the question is marginally, but not by much, and I bet you came to the same conclusion. Your camera sensor did not capture enough light and there simply is too little digital information. Unfortunately if you had exposed the blacks properly to get good detail, the other end (the highlights) would be toast, and this is precisely because in this type of light, high contrast direct sunlight, it is impossible for the camera to capture the full range of brightness. Shooting under cloudy or overcast skys or early or late in the day when the contrast is reduced (but not always), is the only antidote. On the other hand some people believe there must be a post-processing solution to this problem. From my point of view there is not. regards~Bill
surf scoter drake at Heron's Head
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