Yellow Billed Kite

[gail bisson]

Canon 7D
f 5.6 100-400mm at 375
ISO 400
SS 1/800
f 7.1
Take at 5:20 PM and temp was 43 C ( ~120F ) so air was hazy and the BG looks noisy. Should I do another round of NR?
PP in LR3 and S & H and NR ( level 5) done in CS5. A slight crop from right hand side of 10%
Comments and critiques always appreciated and learned from with thanks,
Gail

[Stu Bowie]

Hi Gail, firstly, I know what 43 deg C feels like - its just unpleasant for all beings and animals. I always like these over the shoulder poses, as it creates an easy comp. The feather detail is sharp, and Im fine with the half OOF foliage and sky BG. With regards to the noise in the BG, it looks fine on my work laptop. What I sometimes do, is select a brush and use the blur tool and selectively brush around the BG to 'soften' it up a touch.

[Marc Mol]

Nice look back pose here Gail, BG is a tad noisy on my cal monitor but nothing I'd worry too much about, 43 C is hot but not quite 125F .......more like 109F .
TFS

[gail bisson]

Nice look back pose here Gail, BG is a tad noisy on my cal monitor but nothing I'd worry too much about, 43 C is hot but not quite 125F .......more like 109F .
TFS

Oops, sorry for the poor conversion! Although I did say 120 and not 125!!
Gail

[Dan Busby]

Gail - I tried a quick fix for you. Ran NR on the BG only. Then did a linear burn on the bright shoulder section and the beak to reduce the glare- I found them a bit too bright. Other than that I really like the look back pose, comp and nice clean profile of the bird. Maybe something could be done with that beige section just in front of the bird.

[Dave Leroy]

No matter how you convert it that is hot. A dedicated photographer for sure. Nice look back pose and direct stare. Good suggestions about the noise and I like Dan's idea about the beak and shoulder area.

[Clemens Vanderwerf]

Hi Gail,
Looking at the composition I would take more of the right and the top (about half the space that is there now). Would also try to tone down the yellow right leg and the branch underneath. Other than that great back looking pose. Well done.

[Mital Patel]

Gail this is really excellent image. I too know how it works at 43C. yes adding nr was a trick to bg.
About your 43C temp. we often have it in our part of world. Too hard to photography with that heat and heatwave.

[Jonathan Ashton]

Lovely shot Gail, Dan beat me to it, I agree with his suggestions but if possible I would try to lower the brightness a little further on the bill and the brightest parts of the twigs and log.

[Dumay de Boulle]

yeah we get it every now and again too but not easy for photography from the heat rising from the ground. Detail looks good...Perch and the beak is a bit bright, I would tone them down!

[gail bisson]

Thank you all for your very helpful comments. Here is my repost with all of your suggestions incorporated except for toning down the whites in the shoulder as they are not hot ~220

[dankearl]

The repost is very nice, looks silky and you kept the detail in the bird.
Well done.

[Don Lacy]

Hi Gail, Nice looking subject just a quick question when you sharpen the image did you mask out the BG both in the Raw conversion and finale sharpening for web presentation.

[arash_hazeghi]

very nice! the repost addresses the bright beak and nice details. I only wish the light angle was better w/o shadows on the shoulder which is a bit distracting.

[gail bisson]

Hi Gail, Nice looking subject just a quick question when you sharpen the image did you mask out the BG both in the Raw conversion and finale sharpening for web presentation.

Hi Don,
I sharpened the whole image, but this question has made me realize that I forgot to sharpen the repost!,
Gail

[Don Lacy]

Hi Don,
I sharpened the whole image, but this question has made me realize that I forgot to sharpen the repost!,
Gail

Never sharpen the whole image especially if you have a solid BG all it does is sharpen the noise making it more noticeable. This includes capture sharpening and finale output sharpening.