Since I started bird photography, I've wanted to get a good image of an Easterm kingbird. These guys are fast. They land, usually on a fence railing or a wire, rarely in a tree or on a branch. And they don't sit for a long time either. It's been my nemesis bird!
This morning I was out early trying to get images of the various birds that land on the branches of our weeping cherry trees. Many different birds land on a couple of branches. I was amazed that a kingbird landed on the branch I was focused on and stayed for all of a second! I managed to get 4 images before he flew again. This is one of them.
I did have some difficulty processing this image, though. When I went to use Smartsharpen in PS5 it immediately produced a halo around the head. Lowering the radius did little to eliminate the halo. Unsharp mask worked better and allowed a small amount of sharpening without giving a halo. Does anyone have an explanation for this result?
D7000, Sigma 300-800 @800, ISO 640, 1/800, f 7.1, EC +1
PP limited to cropping, levels and Unsharp mask
They are active little guys, and I only have a few good photos of them.
Nice pose and exposure.
I don't have a specific explanation for why this particular image sharpened the way it did. I do think the base image appears pretty soft on my monitor.
I ran my usual mix of sharpening with Photokit Pixel Genius sharpening. I have def.overdone the amounts so it would show on the web. I do think you should be able to get more out of this, working on the raw.
Hopefully someone can give you a specific explanation on why you are getting halos.
I never sharpen the entire image, just the subject, and I always mask carefully to avoid halos.
Just like Randy I only sharpen the subject.
1. quick select the subject
2. Go to Select
3. Refine Edge option
4. use the slider Contract/Expand to the left(negative), your selection will be inside the subject and for me this help prevents halos
5. Apply and sharpen
Congratualtions on photographing your nemesis bird!! Now you get to place a new species at the top of your "nemesis" bird list
I don't know the reason behind it, but sharpening halos happen alot if you are not creful sharpening a bird against a plain blue sky background...especially a dark bird, and especially along hard edges. I can't really comment on Smartsharpen as I only use USM, but yeah, Ramon's way is one way of helping with that. I usually have a completed but unsharpened and un-NR'd version that when I sharpen I can use the History brush on to paint away what I don't want sharpened, including halos if needed.
Eastern Kingbird -- at last
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