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Reed Bunting + repost

Discussion

9 replies
Posted by Stephen Boyd on June 30, 2008 at 4:29 PM
Reed Bunting + repost
Techs
D300
300 F4 + 1.4 converter
ISO 640
1/1250s
F 7.1
0EV

C & C welcome
Posted by Bertl Menegoni on June 30, 2008 at 4:42 PM
Hello Stephen,
very fine capture of this wonderful little bird. I like the head turn, it completes the perfect
compostion. I only would miss a bit more selective USM on the bird to let it a bit stronger
standout against the BG.
have fun!!
Bertl
Posted by Ian Mason on June 30, 2008 at 4:57 PM
Great pose and composition. I agree a little more USM would be worthwhile.
Posted by Stephen Boyd on June 30, 2008 at 5:14 PM
At the risk of sounding stupid how do I apply selective USM to the bird?

Stephen
Posted by Ian Mason on June 30, 2008 at 7:28 PM
Stephen - I can only advise what I do on photoshop. There are various tools that allow you to select out the bird. The one I usually end up using is the magnetic lasoo, which picks out the edges (of the bird) very neatly, "selecting" everything inside. You can also use the magic wand tool which picks out pixels of a similar colour within the tolerance range you set. You then apply a sharpening filter, usually USM or smart sharpen. The background is unchanged (or you can invert the selection to work on that separately). There are many tutorials on the web on selective sharpening and I am sure someone knows of a link - otherwise look on google. It's great fun to see the image start to "pop". Sometimes, a little diligent use of the sharpen tool around the eye can help too.

Found some links on main site:

http://www.naturephotographers.net/articles0803/tg0803-1.html

http://www.naturephotographers.net/articles0408/jd0408-1.html
Posted by Sandra Hendrikse on July 1, 2008 at 2:35 AM
Nice pose and composition.
Posted by Stephen Boyd on July 1, 2008 at 2:54 AM
Thanks Ian, I will have a go at that

Stephen
Posted by Stephen Boyd on July 1, 2008 at 11:24 AM
Is this any better or does it need more

Stephen
Posted by Ian Mason on July 1, 2008 at 6:38 PM
Hmm - this is very difficult! I have to say I am stuggling to find a difference. I asked my wife and son for independent views and they couldn't help me! Suffice to say I cannot see any signs of oversharpening, so I would be inclined to give it a lot more until it looks too "crunchy" then ease back again. You have to experiment quite a lot.

Hope you don't mind - I pulled it into photoshop and tweaked it a little. I've probably actually overdone it, but hopefully it will at least give you food for thought. This is what I did - slightly darken the whole image and add a little contrast. Select the bird and perch. Smart sharpen (no sharpening to the highlights or they would burn out). Sharpen tool to bring out the eye a little. Invert selection. Slightly darken highlights. Slight noise reduction.

At the end of the day, it's all about what you like. I didn't spend any more than two minutes on this. Everyone will do it differently too. Have fun!
Posted by Stephen Boyd on July 2, 2008 at 3:22 AM
Ian

Thanks for your help - much appreciated

Stephen