California Quail

Gallery: AvianPosted January 30, 2012443 views16 comments

This is a continuation of my Quail series and one I've struggled with to find a balance between light and dark areas without getting a phony HDR look. Holding texture in the snow and detail in the black areas of the head while maintaining a sense of reality can be a daunting task sometimes. Several techniques have been incorporated here using PS and LR and TK's luminosity workflows.

Canon 50D, EF400mm f/2.8L II USM +1.4x, ISO 200, 1/400 @ f9

C&C always appreciated.

Thanks for looking!
Neil

Comments

16 comments

Comment posted by Richard Ditch on January 30, 2012 at 10:44 AM

The results look very natural and I would never have suspected this took so much work to reach that stage. The shadows on the snow and texture of the snow add to the image; the expousre and detail on the quail are excellent.

Registered on November 1, 2003, 1031 Posts, 12705 Comments

Comment posted by John Robinson on January 30, 2012 at 12:00 PM

Looks ok to me. A fine image.
JR

Registered on March 2, 2008, 535 Posts, 2453 Comments

Comment posted by Scott Frye on January 30, 2012 at 3:03 PM

Snow texture really looks good -- details on the bird are sharp and I like the Quail colors -- at first I thought the birds face might be in the dark -- but the larger version shows nice facial deatil -- very nice shot

Registered on February 3, 2007, 387 Posts, 1136 Comments

Comment posted by SandyRichardsBrown on January 30, 2012 at 3:28 PM

Great exposure control. THis looks very natural and not overly PS'd at all.
Nice to see a quail in something other than desert - very nice pose, feather detail/colour, and great eye.
Well done!
Sandy

Registered on November 24, 2003, 3937 Posts, 12909 Comments

Comment posted by Charles Gangas on January 30, 2012 at 3:57 PM

The detail you managed to bring out in all the feather colors is quite good, and the texture and light of the snow are very natural as well. Very nice work Neil.

Registered on August 12, 2009, 544 Posts, 2414 Comments

Comment posted by Jaymes Dempsey on January 30, 2012 at 4:10 PM

Really nice exposure here, Neil, as you mentioned...you did a very good job with this. I like the pose, the catchlight, and the comp, also. Well done.
Jaymes

Registered on June 28, 2010, 47 Posts, 590 Comments

Comment posted by Albert Darmo on January 30, 2012 at 8:56 PM

Hi Neil

The exposure looks well controled, The colors are very natural. I like the pose on the bird, and the very good detail

Albert Darmo
Canada

Registered on November 25, 2008, 1386 Posts, 11978 Comments

Comment posted by Brian Gatlin on January 30, 2012 at 9:08 PM

I'm with the others, Neil. I think this looks excellent and quite natural. nice pose, great colors, and a really fine job with both the exposure and processing.

Registered on March 21, 2009, 202 Posts, 4187 Comments

Comment posted by Cheryl Molennor on January 30, 2012 at 9:17 PM

I like the raised foot and HA working together. Nice detail on the bird as well.

Registered on June 30, 2009, 300 Posts, 5051 Comments

Comment posted by Rob Drummond on January 30, 2012 at 10:08 PM

Looks wonderful Neil

Registered on November 8, 2003, 617 Posts, 8267 Comments

Comment posted by Rebecka on January 30, 2012 at 11:06 PM

Beautiful bird, well captured - and love the unusual setting for a quail.

Registered on February 5, 2009, 170 Posts, 924 Comments

Comment posted by Ron Bielefeld on January 31, 2012 at 7:33 AM

This is really nice Neil. Your processing looks really good. Love the snow and the spotlighted portion the quail is standing on. The detail in the bird and the pose of the bird really add to the shot. Like this a lot.

Registered on December 6, 2008, 360 Posts, 7132 Comments

Comment posted by Kurt Bowman on January 31, 2012 at 9:57 AM

Neil, I think you did a fantastic job of achieving just what you worked so hard to achieve. Really nice processing work to get this right. The snow of course works very well at making this Quail pop off the page. Nice work!

Registered on June 19, 2008, 1005 Posts, 8028 Comments

Comment posted by Jim Hansen on January 31, 2012 at 3:02 PM

Nice quail shot. Haven't seen a lot of pictures of quail in the snow, so this is unique. I love the light, color, and detail.

Registered on May 5, 2011, 161 Posts, 908 Comments

Comment posted by Jim Hackley on February 2, 2012 at 12:12 PM

It appears everything went well PS, LR, TK workflows and this is a very nice quail shot. Nice job in getting this in camera first, looks very natural with good detail all around, well done.

Registered on September 17, 2009, 302 Posts, 5535 Comments

Comment posted by Hans Overduin on February 5, 2012 at 4:26 AM

Hey Neil, it looks actually very good to me, couldn't tell what you have done to achieve this, nor can't think of anything to improve. Excellent image in my opinion ! Cheers, hans

Registered on August 31, 2011, 491 Posts, 3807 Comments