RS Hawk + redo

Gallery: AvianPosted April 10, 2017284 views4 comments

Red-shouldered Hawk
Lake Apopka Wildlife Drive
3/24/2017 – 3:50:25 PM (note time and comment below)
Canon EOS 7D EF400mm f/5.6L USM
1/1000 sec; f/7.1; ISO 640 (note shutter speed and comment below)
Manual; Evaluative metering
LP5, PS6, Topaz DeNoise on background, Smart Sharpen on bird, Curves adjustment layer to lighten, full frame.

It was a cloudy day, and I personally liked the way this image looked with no lightening. But I've learned that I pretty much tend to like things darker than most people here, and therefore that probably means I like things darker than most people in general. So I'm trying to keep that in mind. Does this amount of lightening look good to you?

Any feedback would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

Comments

4 comments

Comment posted by Dennis Plank on April 11, 2017 at 6:31 AM

The exposure looks about right to me, Barbara, but the hawk itself seems a bit washed out due to the flat light. Maybe a slight contrast/saturation boost to the hawk alone? It also looks as if the bird is just a touch soft, so maybe a bit more sharpening?

A nice image of this bird. You're finding a lot of good subjects lately.

Registered on January 28, 2008, 1767 Posts, 23192 Comments

Comment posted by David Schoen on April 11, 2017 at 6:59 PM

I agree with Dennis here that the lighting on the bird is relatively flat. The area around the eye and the wings are moderately dark. Another place where a fill flash would be helpful. In general, I think as long as your about 20 feet away, a bird like this is not going to mind low-level flash and it could make a big difference in the quality of your image.

Registered on November 6, 2006, 1213 Posts, 4587 Comments

Comment posted by Steve Thompson on April 11, 2017 at 8:09 PM

I would agree with Dennis and David Barbara. I think a contrast boost would benefit the image as it seemed a little flat to me too. Also I wonder...did you look at a vertical crop for this. Maybe something to check out. Really nice image as is!

Registered on August 7, 2014, 125 Posts, 2319 Comments

Comment posted by Barbara Graham on April 12, 2017 at 10:25 AM

Okay, added saturation, added contrast, additional sharpening. What do you think?

Registered on July 27, 2010, 1310 Posts, 5035 Comments