Quite new to this forum and still very much an amateur photographer which has grown out of interests sparked by safaris in Africa. I'm just starting to discover more about what is around local to me in Blackpool and make time to practice more. Anyway, thought it was time I took the leap and asked for some feedback on a recent effort rather than just admiring everyone else's work!
This pair of tufted duck were paddling around on the boating lake in the local park and along with some portraits of the male I liked this shot of the pair with the female almost silhouetted in the background and the dark water. I'm hoping the few passersby didn't think I was too peculiar lying on the bank!
Taken with Canon EOS350D and Sigma 80-400OS @ 281mm, f5.6, 1/800 and -1/3, ISO 400. Slight crop on right to exclude a branch in the water and adjusted colour temp and stuff in iPhoto with small bits of cloning to dull some bright water drops on the male in Photoshop Elements 4
Hi, welcome to the forum, well at blackpool you have loads of places to try your hand pretty much on your door step.
As for the image, hmm, the Out of focus (OOF) duck looks VERY dark, did you burn it in? I find it distracting. the main duck looks ok, but seems to be very little detail in the dark parts of the bird. Though it looks like there is detail in the whites which can be hard.
Tufties are one of the hardest birds to expose in my limited experience, so you've chosen a really tough subject. The whites look hot and the blacks look black on this monitor. You could have spot metered the white and brought the blacks up in post processing, but it's hard. Diffused light would make all the difference here, light overcast probably best. Some better photographers may help here, but Tufties are very hard to nail exposure properly. Welcome, and the composition looks great
Welcome to UKNP!
Looks like you have had a tough situation on your hands with this shot. It's hard to keep enough detail in the whites and blacks. I tend to go out for these type of species when the weather is clouded so there is no bright sunshine to affect the white (allthough my current post of an oystercatcher was shot in bright sunlight..).
This might help you balance the black and whites and preserve more detail.
As i do like the silhouette of the dark duck in the BG i would suggest you turn this shot into a black and white shot wich would give it a whole new feel and might suit the circumstances better.
I can fully sympathise with you trying to shoot these. I spent half an hour with some a few days ago in bright sunshine and got very few that were exposed right. The only ones that worked were those in which I underexposed in conjunction with some fill flash. I'm going to post one to see what you think. I look forward to seeing more shots!
Thanks for all the feedback. I think the lack of detail in the blacks is down to my clumsy post-processing and reducing the exposure too much - the -1/3 shot at was to avoid blowing out the whites on a bright afternoon. I'm still learning the basics of Elements and until relatively recently have done little more than adjust white balance, tint, etc. Will keep at it
Discussion
7 repliesQuite new to this forum and still very much an amateur photographer which has grown out of interests sparked by safaris in Africa. I'm just starting to discover more about what is around local to me in Blackpool and make time to practice more. Anyway, thought it was time I took the leap and asked for some feedback on a recent effort rather than just admiring everyone else's work!
This pair of tufted duck were paddling around on the boating lake in the local park and along with some portraits of the male I liked this shot of the pair with the female almost silhouetted in the background and the dark water. I'm hoping the few passersby didn't think I was too peculiar lying on the bank!
Taken with Canon EOS350D and Sigma 80-400OS @ 281mm, f5.6, 1/800 and -1/3, ISO 400. Slight crop on right to exclude a branch in the water and adjusted colour temp and stuff in iPhoto with small bits of cloning to dull some bright water drops on the male in Photoshop Elements 4
Would love to hear any views and suggestions.
Magnus
As for the image, hmm, the Out of focus (OOF) duck looks VERY dark, did you burn it in? I find it distracting. the main duck looks ok, but seems to be very little detail in the dark parts of the bird. Though it looks like there is detail in the whites which can be hard.
Not sure what else to say. Keep them coming.
Welcome to the UKNP!
I agree with Paul comments. I noticed you dailed a -1/3 stop - I think this shot is a little underexposed!
Welcome to UKNP!
Looks like you have had a tough situation on your hands with this shot. It's hard to keep enough detail in the whites and blacks. I tend to go out for these type of species when the weather is clouded so there is no bright sunshine to affect the white (allthough my current post of an oystercatcher was shot in bright sunlight..).
This might help you balance the black and whites and preserve more detail.
As i do like the silhouette of the dark duck in the BG i would suggest you turn this shot into a black and white shot wich would give it a whole new feel and might suit the circumstances better.
Hope this helps!
Greetings,
Jeroen Stel
I can fully sympathise with you trying to shoot these. I spent half an hour with some a few days ago in bright sunshine and got very few that were exposed right. The only ones that worked were those in which I underexposed in conjunction with some fill flash. I'm going to post one to see what you think. I look forward to seeing more shots!
I too got into photography after an African Safari. Not sure I can add any extra comments, butI look forward to seeing more of your work..