Posted by Paul Hillion on February 5, 2007 at 1:41 PM
I've quickly processed this one to see how it looked, unfortunately I didn't get the exposure spot on so it required some work and this coupled with the fact this was hand-held with the 500 & 1.4x in a strong wind has resulted in it not being as good as shot as it obviously could have been. Still it's not too bad for a 500 newbie
Any advice on capturing whiter than white egrets and the such like greatly apprciated, thanks!
Canon 30D
Canon 500 f/4L IS with 1.4x
f/8, 1/2500, -0.3, iso 200, Partial.
Handheld.
Great timing and shot, and nothing at all wrong with the exposure (whites) to me - it was taken on a sunny day - bet you couldn't discern much detail in the whites with your eyes. Nice crop - did you take it this way (vertical) or have you cropped off the body because you think it's too burnt out?
Dave
Forest of Dean, UK
Posted by Paul Hillion on February 5, 2007 at 5:46 PM
Thanks Dave for your reply. It was my first instinct to crop the body as I wanted to really focus on the egrets eye & of course the catch itself. Like I say this was a quick process job and I will maybe try something different later.
Exposure looks to fine here.. the way I do it is to push the whites as far as possible, I tend to meter for a neutral aiming for a histogram just right of central (I don't agree fully with exposing fully to the right), then on conversion I push the whites by levels till the whitest are just clipping then back of a tad, I then add some contrast using an 'S' curve, it is also possible to add black to the whites in selective colour, used carefully this will add a little more contrast to any detail recorded, you have to be carefull not to overdo it and give the whites a gray appearance.
Have you carried out any noise reduction here? just that the plumage seems to have taken on a little bit of a plastic look, if you have try using a separate layer for NR then with a mask bring back the detail in the feathers, or even simpler use the history brush to bring back it back...
HTH
Nice action captured here, the tilt of the head towards you is a bonus....
Posted by Paul Hillion on February 6, 2007 at 2:58 PM
Here's the shot taken 2 seconds before the one above!
Thanks for the advice Phil, yes I did apply Noise Ninja although not too much. I'm going to have another bash at it soon and I'll do what you recommend. When you say 'I meter for a neutral setting' can you explain the process in doing that please? Also what would your advice be for settings on an image such as above when you've no time beforehand for adjustments?
Discussion
4 repliesAny advice on capturing whiter than white egrets and the such like greatly apprciated, thanks!
Canon 30D
Canon 500 f/4L IS with 1.4x
f/8, 1/2500, -0.3, iso 200, Partial.
Handheld.
Dave
Forest of Dean, UK
Exposure looks to fine here.. the way I do it is to push the whites as far as possible, I tend to meter for a neutral aiming for a histogram just right of central (I don't agree fully with exposing fully to the right), then on conversion I push the whites by levels till the whitest are just clipping then back of a tad, I then add some contrast using an 'S' curve, it is also possible to add black to the whites in selective colour, used carefully this will add a little more contrast to any detail recorded, you have to be carefull not to overdo it and give the whites a gray appearance.
Have you carried out any noise reduction here? just that the plumage seems to have taken on a little bit of a plastic look, if you have try using a separate layer for NR then with a mask bring back the detail in the feathers, or even simpler use the history brush to bring back it back...
HTH
Nice action captured here, the tilt of the head towards you is a bonus....
Thanks for the advice Phil, yes I did apply Noise Ninja although not too much. I'm going to have another bash at it soon and I'll do what you recommend. When you say 'I meter for a neutral setting' can you explain the process in doing that please? Also what would your advice be for settings on an image such as above when you've no time beforehand for adjustments?
Thanks, much apprciated.