Carmine bee eater in flight

[gail bisson]

Canon 7D
100-400 at 300mm
ISO 400
SS 1/1600
f 7.1
Cropped right and left by ~ 30%
Taken at Little Vumbura, Botswana at 9:10 AM so light is getting harsh
I like the direct gaze.
I had to do significant S & H work for the underwings but am not thrilled with the result. Any tips or advice?I used the S & H tool, then did a quick mask for the underwings and lightened a bit more.
Comments and critiques always appreciated,
Gail

[Randy Stout]

Gail:

I didn't see it mentioned, so assume you didn't use flash. I would def. consider in future, fill flash under these circumstances, to try and get a little more light into the shadowed areas. It would have opened up the breast and under wing areas a bit.

If you have access to Nik Color Efex Pro, the detail extractor filter works pretty well to lighten and open up shadowed areas. Has to be used with some discretion so it doesn't look unnatural, but if it were mine, I would go back to the raw and try it. You can get a free demo of it from NIK.

I might consider toning down the BG a bit, which would make the bird seem relatively brighter as well.

Cheers

Randy

[Doug Brown]

Tough light but a nice capture. It's never easy to bring up the shadows with the 7D. Toning down the BG (as Randy suggested) will definitely make the bird appear brighter than it actually is. All of that said, the underwings don't look bad at all.

[Stu Bowie]

Great inflight capture Gail, with good eye contact. Although I havent captured a carmine bee-eater, Ive tried capturing white fronted bee-eaters, and they are extremely quick in the air. No doubt, this guy would be the same. The colours stand out nicely against the lighter BG, and good advice from the guys above. Comp wise, I can see the BE sitting a bit more into the ULC of the frame.

[arash_hazeghi]

nice job catching this one in flight, good BG too. overall the harsh light and the wing position keep this one from going to the top but I am sure you will soon come up with one in sweet light and a nicer wing position! keep up the good job

[Kaustubh Deshpande]

Gail, agree that the light angle is too steep to get details in the shaded portions...except flash. But nice pose, nice AF and BG. I like the composition as well.

[Robert Holguin]

Real nice flight shot. Great head angle, nice background, despite the harsh light I think it came out well.
Well done.

[Dan Busby]

A real good capture Gail. Don't be too hard on yourself! Nice detail on the main parts of the bird. Underwings not as good but not so bad either. I also like the head on position of the head but would like to see a catch light in an eye to better define the face. Fill flash might have been the answer. You will just have to go back and do it again .

[gail bisson]

Thanks for all the comments. I tone down the brightness in the Bg and it really does make a difference. The real answer to the problem is of course to have used fill flash...lesson learned

[Doug Brown]

Gail was kind enough to send me the RAW file, and I thought I'd take the liberty of reposting the image. When I looked at the RAW file, the bird was underexposed and the sun seemed fairly high in the sky. I tried to open up the shadows and darken the BG while preserving color and detail in the important areas. Was I successful?

[gail bisson]

Doug,
You are awesome. I definetely like your version as it opens up the eyes a lot. Now, can you tell me the recipe! Believe it or not it was 9:10 am when I took this shot but the sun rises quickly in Africa,
Gail

[Stu Bowie]

Believe it or not it was 9:10 am when I took this shot but the sun rises quickly in Africa,

Hi Gail, and I have to shoot in those conditions every weekend.

Hi Doug, great job with your repost. You have still maintained the colours of the BE nicely after bringing up the exposure.