Posted by John Gardner on October 18, 2006 at 1:59 PM
In view of the recent thread, here's one straight from the camera: no cropping, no cloning, no compositing, no boosting and Tom, definately NOT done on a w*rksh*p
Needs the niggly bit of lichen taking out from under the breast but I thought I'd leave in for the mo. It has had curves and USM applied but I class neither of these as manipulation as all RAW files have to have some degree of these two elements IMHO.
Bird was taken at an awesome location in France where we did many common species such as this plus hawfinch and brambling
Nikon D2X, Nikkor 500mm f/4 hide.
Posted by David Kjaer on October 18, 2006 at 2:12 PM
Hi John
Cracking shot, great pose,saturation and detail - better separation of the head from BG would have improved the image. With regards to Photoshop a certain amount of work is essential to achieve the image you saw - an untouched RAW file is usually nothing like you saw in the field!
Doesn't quite work for me if I'm honest John.
The perch is excellent and full of interest,and the way it runs from corner to corner works well.
However there are two things that spoil the image for me.
Firstly the light coloured twig protruding from behind the birds head is a little distracting.I guess a lower or higher shooting angle would have maybe overcome this,trouble is the shooting angle may then have become a bit too extreme and steep.
Secondly I find the light just a little too harsh,with so much detail on bird and perch to record,I feel a softer light would have worked better in this instance.
Posted by John Chapman on October 19, 2006 at 10:33 AM
Discussion
5 repliesNeeds the niggly bit of lichen taking out from under the breast but I thought I'd leave in for the mo. It has had curves and USM applied but I class neither of these as manipulation as all RAW files have to have some degree of these two elements IMHO.
Bird was taken at an awesome location in France where we did many common species such as this plus hawfinch and brambling
Nikon D2X, Nikkor 500mm f/4 hide.
Cracking shot, great pose,saturation and detail - better separation of the head from BG would have improved the image. With regards to Photoshop a certain amount of work is essential to achieve the image you saw - an untouched RAW file is usually nothing like you saw in the field!
David
The perch is excellent and full of interest,and the way it runs from corner to corner works well.
However there are two things that spoil the image for me.
Firstly the light coloured twig protruding from behind the birds head is a little distracting.I guess a lower or higher shooting angle would have maybe overcome this,trouble is the shooting angle may then have become a bit too extreme and steep.
Secondly I find the light just a little too harsh,with so much detail on bird and perch to record,I feel a softer light would have worked better in this instance.
great shot of the bird.
John
Aberdeen