Over exposure of Scarlet Ibis

[Claude Ostfeld]

Hello to all.
I visited a wildlife reserve on different occasions and took numerous images of Scarlet Ibis.
I live in Milan, Italy and the wildlife reserve is about 40 km (25 miles) southeast of Milan.
Our latitude is just about exactly 45° N.
It was late in the afternoon the images were lacking in feather detail and overall the images looked "smudged".
I am using a Nikon D700 with a Nikkor 300mm F/2.8 AF-S on a Manfrotto tripod with a Wimberley II.

I tried today using a Nikon CP filter instead of the normal ND filter with no substantial change.
The place had dark shadows and I also tried numerous ISO settings from 250 all the way up to 3200.
I am still getting similar results.
This also seems to happen (to a lesser degree) with dark red Flamingos.
Is there something I am not aware of in terms of handling of the color red by digital cameras?
Should I be using some other setting for WB instead of auto?
I chose a shot out of many and did some tweaking using LR 3.4. You can see the before and after.
The purpose is to show that the details are there but are not visible in the original image.

This shot is not a keeper. It is just an example that shows on the left hand side what I am getting.

ISO 3200, F/4.5, 1/80, D700, 300mm F/2.8 AF-S, WB=Auto

What I would like to know is how I should set my camera to obtain a more faithful image in terms of handling the intense scarlet colored feathers of this beautiful bird directly from the camera. Under similar circumstances in the same place at the same time of day I shot images of a Glossy Ibis and had no particular issues at all.
As this happens in different locations with violently red birds in the shadows or in sunlight, there must be something I am doing wrong.
This should not be an equipment issue as both this camera and this lens usually produce impeccable images.
Any advice would be much appreciated.

Thanks,

[Kerry Perkins]

Claude, to save a ton of typing on my part, I will direct you to this thread about the color red. Yes, cameras seem to have a problem with it. REDucation 1

I am really curious about your setup. Why would you use either an ND or polarizer in this situation, which forces you to use a very high ISO? The CP filter is adding saturation, which is not what you want. The image looks very flat. I would recommend getting rid of the filters, getting the ISO down to 400, and using a much faster shutter speed.

I personally don't use AWB and prefer to set it manually so that the WB is the same for every shot in a given situation. Others use it all the time and make adjustments in PS or LR if shooting RAW. Try setting it to 5200K and shooting all day in natural light. You might be surprised at the result.

[Claude Ostfeld]

Hi Kerry,
Sorry ND was a typo. It is an NC drop in filter that comes with the 300mm lens.
I had hoped that the CP (also drop in) would help but as you correctly say the ISO had to be raised a lot.
As the place where these birds usually can be found is in shady glens (only at times do they bask in the sun on high up tree branches which I can't have access to) the use of higher speed (which I did try) along with 400 ISO produced darker images.
This is another image from today. Same place, same lighting. The previous image was a screen capture and not an export which is why it looked so flat.
I am not very happy with the pictures I took today so I am just picking a decent one out of about 1000 shots.
I have left the metadata in this picture.
ISO 3200, F/5.0, 1/100, D700, 300mm F/2.8 AF-S, WB=Auto (color temp 5200K as you suggest)
All the Scarlet ibis images are not really that good. I prefer not to have to make use of a lot of post processing (a left over from my film days). A little bit is OK.
I will try again soon using 5200K instead of Auto WB. I'll let you know how it goes.
Thank you very much for your advice.

[Desmond Chan]

ISO 3200, F/5.0, 1/100, D700, 300mm F/2.8 AF-S, WB=Auto (color temp 5200K as you suggest)
All the Scarlet ibis images are not really that good. I prefer not to have to make use of a lot of post processing (a left over from my film days). A little bit is OK.

I hope at the very least you would not mind adjusting the exposure, contrast, and white balance in post processing. Apparently where you shot was quite dark. I would expect the images to be kind of flat. As for this one, there're some details in shadow area of the birds. If it's not against your post-processing ethics, you should be able to recover some of them. The light coming from the rear of the bird also was not helping you. As for white-balance, I think it's more important to know when and how to color correct rather than whether to use auto WB or otherwise, especially if you have to WB correct one way or another afterwards.

As mentioned, red (and yellow) could create problem for the sensor. You just have to know how to fix it in post processing.

[Jeff Cashdollar]

I do not use filters and keep it as simple as possible using AWB. Please try again with out filter and AWB per the thread above. Reds and Yellows (others too) can cause over saturation on the sensor. As you know, often Cardinals have to be desaturated (-9 or so) to show detail and appear natural. From a Canon perspective, like Kerry said we tend to use ISO 400 and lot's of pro natural photographers use 400 or 200 (so I was told by a Canon pro). Artie often uses 400 as well. Looking forward to seeing more form you, keep it simple - thanks.