Photographing high contrast birds, buffleheads specifically

[Karen Melody]

I would appreciate any advice on photographing black and white, high contrast birds. In my experience, metering on the dark areas blows out the whites and metering on the light areas darkens the mid-tones and shadows beyond recovery. Most birds are moving too fast to get a series of bracketed exposures for the purpose of layering.
I am shooting with a Canon 7D and either a 500mm Canon lens (sometimes with a 1.4 extender) or a Sigma 50-500 zoom depending upon whether I am on dry land or in a kayak.

Thanks
Melody karenmelody.com

[Doug Brown]

You've definitely got to protect the whites when you're exposing in camera, but you need to push your whites to the bleeding edge; doing this will lighten the darks as much as you can in camera. In order to accomplish this, you have to have a solid understanding of how your camera histogram translates into the RAW file when viewed on your computer. You also need to know how much you can bring up your darks in post; the 7D comes up a little short in that area compared to say a Mark IV. The quality of light is also very important; light in the early morning should help you get the exposure you want. This frame was shot with a 7D with a 600mm + 1.4x, f/7.1, 1/2000, ISO 640, -1/3 EC, hand held:



I could probably massage a little more detail out of the blacks, but most people care about controlled whites and nice color in the head. They'll forgive a little blocking of the blacks on the back if you get everything else right.

[Karen Melody]

You've definitely got to protect the whites when you're exposing in camera, but you need to push your whites to the bleeding edge; doing this will lighten the darks as much as you can in camera. In order to accomplish this, you have to have a solid understanding of how your camera histogram translates into the RAW file when viewed on your computer. You also need to know how much you can bring up your darks in post; the 7D comes up a little short in that area compared to say a Mark IV. The quality of light is also very important; light in the early morning should help you get the exposure you want. This frame was shot with a 7D with a 600mm + 1.4x, f/7.1, 1/2000, ISO 640, -1/3 EC, hand held:



I could probably massage a little more detail out of the blacks, but most people care about controlled whites and nice color in the head. They'll forgive a little blocking of the blacks on the back if you get everything else right.

So would you spot-meter on the white and over-expose, checking the histogram as you shoot? I am trying to find a location for an early morning shoot but, at this point, they are swimming on a section of the Colorado river which is shaded until mid-morning and they are too far away for flash.

[Randy Stout]

Karen:

Good advice from Doug. Your image as posted is too bright, but the whites aren't technically blown, and I was able to bring out a bit more detail by running a luminosity layer adjustment with a multiply blend mode set at 62%. You can do a much better job on the raw, but it really looks like the information is still in the file!

I have been known to take a pictures of loons, so am familiar with dealing with black and white birds. Not that this always possible, but I am on the water before dawn so I am in position to capture them in the first 30-60 minutes of softer morning light. The only time I shoot much longer than that is if it is overcast. I use fill flash with a beamer on 75% of my shots to help control the dynamic range in the image.

You need to shoot in manual exposure mode so you can make the creative decisions. I have the 'blinkies' set on my in camera histogram, so I can tell at a glance how my exposure is. I expose to the right (more light in) until I get blinkies, and then back off a touch. Generally most cameras are set so a few minor blinkies can be easily recovered in post.

For me, spot metering on a moving bird isn't practical. I generally use center weighted or matrix (Nikon) but the real trick is to watch that histogram like a hawk.

Hope to see more. Don't hesitate to ask questions, and comment on other folks images.

Cheers

Randy

[dankearl]

Karen, as someone who takes a lot of Bufflehead photos, don't feel alone.
Probably in my admittedly limited experience, there is not a harder bird to get right.
Doug's looks really good.
Here is probably my best and the whites on the head look blown but don't register as such.
They do not have enough detail, but overall, I think this look is good for them.
I shoot at least a stop down and don't worry about the water, dark water looks good with them.
This was in afternoon sun although you wouldn't know.

DSC_4642wb.jpg

[Doug Brown]

So would you spot-meter on the white and over-expose, checking the histogram as you shoot? I am trying to find a location for an early morning shoot but, at this point, they are swimming on a section of the Colorado river which is shaded until mid-morning and they are too far away for flash.

I just go with evaluative metering and manual exposure. Spot metering a small bird like a Bufflehead can be perilous. Push your exposure about 1/3 to 2/3 stop into the blinkies and see if you can recover the whites in post.

[Karen Melody]

Thanks all
I am spending part of the day searching for buffleheads in locations lit by early morning light. I do suspect that part of the white blow-out problem is connected with time of day - there is very poor light in the tree-lined river valley until 10:00 am - my early morning and late afternoon attempts, even with flash, resulted in dark shots. Some of you might be interested in my loon shots the best of which may be at http://www.karenmelody.com/Birds/colo105.htm Most of these were shot under thin clouds allowing me to avoid blowing out the whites, for the most part.
KML

[Karen Melody]

http://www.karenmelody.com/nufotoz/bufffl04.htm contains the first of several more shots from this location. Any tactful comments appreciated.
Buffles winter here in Texas though finding them in a location close enough to photograph is very tricky.
Come see us here in the Lone Stat state where mild winters and winter migrants foster great bird photography.

[Karen Melody]

Dankearl,
Is this a breeding season shot? Do you shoot from a blind?
thanks mucho -- Karen Melody

[Kaustubh Deshpande]

Karen, good advice above. I'd second that. Do manual exposure to push whites to the right in histogram but dont blow them. Keep the blinkies alert on in the histogram. The histogram is based on a jpg....in that sense, it can be a tiny bit misleading. I have my camera set to picture style neutral and contrast to -1. -2 might be better actually. That way, you will not see many wrong blinkies( highlights blown in jpg but not in RAW). If your camera is set to standard picture style with contrast to 1, then you might see some blinkies...but RAW file could be fine. You might get misdirected into reducing the exposure if that happens.

As long as light is good and your whites are very white but not blown, you have a good base image. Use lowest ISO that gives you the SS-fstop you need. Now you have a good base file. Rest is at the computer. With such bright white birds( buffleheads, shovellers, white pelicans, adult gulls), when you protect the whites, midtones tends to go down(blue water for example). In processing, use curves to raise the midtones. Use shadow slider to eke out some details there. If light is good and at right angle, and whites are 240+, I dont find myself struggling with shadow details. mid-tones are the main issue. I use 40D and processing of this kind tends to introduce noise...hence it is important to have a low iso.

At times, depending on light and plumage type, your whites, although not blown might look devoid of details. A small local s-curve in that part of the curve helps at times.

[dankearl]

Karen, not a blind and not breeding season, I took this last month.
I don't find Buffleheads any harder to get close to than other wild ducks.
They are just small so you need to be closer.
I take these from a smallish size pond though, that has a lot of them.
I have a spot where I can get pretty low and just go often enough and stay long enough,
they get use to me. I do check the blinkies and go for NONE.
I can raise the exposure just enough to get dark water and not blow the whites if I am lucky.
I do not have a lot of success restoring blown highlights, I error on the dark side and hope for
the best. I hope this helps.

[Karen Melody]

Karen:

"luminosity layer adjustment with a multiply blend mode set at 62%" Randy

Do you mean a duplicate layer in multiply mode at 62% opacity with all but the whites masked off? I do not find a luminosity layer adjustment in PS CS5 nor do I know how to invoke luminosity in a multiply mode layer. Attached is the image reworked this way. KML

[Karen Melody]

Thanks Kaustubh
I am shooting raw, I do have blinkies, picture set to neutral and am aware that camara image is a jpg so not completely accurate concerning white blow out. Lowering the contrast setting to push blinkies more in line with raw sounds like a good idea.
thanks mucho
Karen Melody

[Karen Melody]

I am still shooting buffleheads - some manual, some aperture priority, no flash. I am pretty sure there are no settings which do not require a fair amount of post processing to (in my case) deal with both blown out whites and blocked up blacks, at least here in strong central Texas light conditions. Comment at will...

[dankearl]

Karen, you are still shooting them overexposed.
Your exif reads 0 EV.
You need to underexpose by at least 1/3 stop.
I shoot a lot of buffleheads, here is one i took two days ago.
-0.3ev.
I do check and if there are any blinkies, I don't even bother processing and I delete them.
You will get some noise shooting underexposed, but that is an easy fix.
You cannot fix blown whites.
As you can see, the water is dark and I like it this way.
There is detail in the whites.

DSC_6978nx.jpg

[Karen Melody]

For me, the above image is a bit under though this may be due to my own monitor which is calibrated for print, a calibration making any image somewhat dark. I do appreciate the extremly nice detail you are getting in the white areas but there is an overall darkness that bothers me. I shot today in early morning light so I will see what I got. I am inspired to see that detail in the white. Thanks mucho...

[Kaustubh Deshpande]

Karen, Dan is right. Dont be bothered about "overall darkness". what is important is that the brightest whites are bright white but not blown. The rest of the image just has to be adjusted in post by using sliders and curves.

[Karen Melody]

For me, the above image is a bit under though this may be due to my own monitor which is calibrated for print, a calibration making any image somewhat dark. I do appreciate the extremly nice detail you are getting in the white areas but there is an overall darkness that bothers me. I shot today in early morning light so I will see what I got. I am inspired to see that detail in the white. Thanks mucho...
Here is another from yesterday - some detail in the whites but not enough.

[Karen Melody]

Karen, Dan is right. Dont be bothered about "overall darkness". what is important is that the brightest whites are bright white but not blown. The rest of the image just has to be adjusted in post by using sliders and curves.

The problem is that sufficient shutter speed requires an iso high enough to cause noise problems in that expanse of dark duck and water. I use Nik noise reduction software and the noise reduction in ACR but even when applied with an inverse edge mask, noise reduction obliterates feather detail. I realize there is no perfect exposure for a black and glossy white bird in sunlight so a fair amount of post-processing is required but I am not quite finding that middle ground which feels right to me. Having said that, it is there somewhere, given the numerous great shots of bufflehead males.