Roseate Spoonbill

[Svante Larsson]

Hej!

Please find enclosed an image of a Sponbill. The original wasn't very good but I cannot afford going back to Florida to take another one so I spent some effort on improving the image to the best of my abilities. Has done some S/H, darkened the highlight areas and lightened the dark areas before significantly blurring the background, dodging and burning and some sharpening. I am curious if you think it was worth the effort and if you think the PP is a bit over the top or if there is other improvements that could be made. I know that the back is toasted a bit, even though the original wasn't but I am currently undecided if the image is good enough for the additional work. Will attach the original so you can see the difference.

D300, 500 mm, f/4, ISO200, 1/1600, full frame

[Svante Larsson]

Here is the original.

[wendell westfall]

Svante: Handsome bird -- I've never photographed one, or even seen one. A "toasted" back does not bother me.

[nancy hazen]

I think you did a great job of PP. Very nice final image.
Nancy

[gary ellwein]

Savante, there is good detail and eye contact in the spoonbill. I'm having a problem with the cyan color cast in the white portions of the spoonbill and the foreground log. Although this may represent filtered light, it does not look natural. Relative to the bg, the very bright white spots in front of and under the subject are distracting. If these were toned down, I'd prefer the original over the heavily worked redo.

[Kerry Perkins]

Svante, really nice pose and basic capture. Unfortunately blown pixels can't ever be recovered! You are correct about the toasted back area, it was simply out of the realm of possibility for your camera body to capture the dynamic range. If the bird had been evenly illuminated by the bright light you would have had a better chance with the exposure. When trying to compensate for the shadows, the highlights get clipped.

[Desmond Chan]

I know that the back is toasted a bit, even though the original wasn't

Sounds like you just have to be a bit more careful in the pp then. If the details are there, why not show them?

but I am currently undecided if the image is good enough for the additional work.

I think it's up to you. If you do not like it personally, it doesn't matter what other can do, I think.