PA Snow Angel

Nice environmental shot and good wing position!
Bill, try this: lasso that hot white wing and then lower the exposure and /or use the highlight/shadow tool .
You can alter any select part of an image this way.
Hope this helps!

Sandy r

As Sandy says, the whites are pretty hot on the wing and back. You might try the Shadow/Highlight Tool, but you may have to adjust your RAW import settings to recover detail.

Nice shot, Bill! You can also reduce the brightness of that wing using layers ( one as it is and one darker) and a layer mask.
Mauro

Thanks Sandy, Jim and Mauro! Guess I better get rid of my rudimentary editing software and dive into PS, or Elements!

I'll make an attempt to fix and repost.

OK Rich, I'll take your word for it--I have actually had a copy of Elements sitting here next to my computer for many months. Hopefully I will take the initiative and begin the process!

Bill, I actually prefer Lightroom with NIK plug-ins. I only use PS for cloning anymore. The NIK SW has been the best thing since sliced bread for me. You might want to check it out, They have a 30-day free trial.

Bill, I think the harsh lighting has made this an exposure nightmare. As presented I would try to recover some of the highlights in raw. I also think there is a blue cast under the wing. Congratulations on the magazine and hopefully you'll get another chance at this one with better light.

Thanks Denise, yes it is an exposure nightmare. Still like the pose, we'll figure out the rest.

Congrats on the magazine photo. I've seen a few of these in NE, PA...they love the trout! Sharon

Bill,

Congrats on finding this snowy and having your photo included in the magazine.

Most everyone has given you advice on the post processing of this image, I'd like to focus on what could have been done in the field to have made this a better photo. Your ISO setting seems a bit low for avian photography and the need for more shutter speed, I would have had my ISO set at least at 200 and most likely would have gone higher to gain shutter speed.

I probably would have also used some negative exposure compensation to help controls the whites of the bird, at times even -0.3 EV compensation can make a huge difference when photographing white birds.

I like the habit included in the image though I might have cropped away the OOF vegetation on the bottom of the frame.

Hi Mia, thank you again for the great advice. I have definitely learned my ISO lesson on this occasion. In fact, I just had the reverse happen. Only me. I went out Sunday expecting to do some birding and had preset the ISO to 400 just in case I had to shoot quickly. Well, the birds didn't show up for the most part, so I went and did some nice Spring stream/greens shots using Shutter Priority. I had forgotten that I preset the ISO to 400, and was shooting at speeds of 1/2 to 1/30th sec., with the ISO at 400 and didn't even realize it. Needless to say, the results were very disappointing after a tough climb.

So I'm trying to learn on the fly, and I really appreciate everyone's help. Really!