Posted by Paul Thomas on November 26, 2008 at 12:34 PM
Nice clean image of one of my favourite birds.
Paul
Posted by Danny Green on November 26, 2008 at 1:31 PM
Hello Ray
Nice shot of a house sparrow you don't see too many of these now days. I think the bird is too central for me and I am not sure you are getting the best out of your processing. Is this a digital file or a scan from slide. This forum is great for getting help on processing as there is all ways some one willing to help and offer advice. I think you need it
Danny
Posted by Dawn Monrose on November 26, 2008 at 2:08 PM
Nice. I agree that the bird is a bit central, although a slight crop from the left should sort that out. I also agree about the post processing, there seems to be something strange going on. Are you using photoshop? It looks like what happens sometimes if you overcook the 'shadow/highlight' tool. It looks like all the info is there, just seems a bit unbalanced. The sharpness and detail are good.
Nice shot though of a very handsome little bird.
Posted by Ben Simmonds on November 26, 2008 at 5:08 PM
i agree it does need a crop possibly even into a portrait format, there is possibly too much around to distract, i see it was taken in midday sun which is casting some quite heavy shadows and contrast on the picture but thats just my opinion.
you are right though the sparrow does get overlooked and is a really great bird to have around.
Posted by John Robinson on November 26, 2008 at 6:47 PM
I have looked at this a couple of times and may I offer some comments. I have done these birds on perches at pools many times over the years. They - especially the males need a "gentle " photographic approach. They are inherently contrsty "hard " birds, and one needs to allow for this.
I would also suggest that maybe a smaller poolside perch would be better and certainly one not rising in the backgroiund which can lead to obtrusive OOF areas in the background as in this shot..I always place mine in a line with the water level to avoid the problem I have refferred to. A minor nit would be getting the bird over to the left more, to avoid the out of shot mode.
JR
Posted by John Chapman on November 27, 2008 at 6:55 AM
Hi Ray nice house sparrow shot.
Posted by Mark sellings on November 28, 2008 at 6:13 AM
Hi ray,
I agree with comments about processing - I think you need some help/advice/practice to get the best out of your images as at the moment they just don't look quite right - maybe monitor calibration etc? Aside from techs, the light is harsh, the comp is too central for me and also the branch really dominates and makes the scene look too busy - however, a decent record shot of an interesting little bird.
Many thanks for the comments made, they are exactly what I thought they would be, and underlines what I suspected was the problem
It has nothing to do with Photoshop processing, as apart from sizing for the net only two passes of Unsharp mask were applied, and even applying that was debatable.
The image is a scan, and the effect being seen, is how the scanning software interprets areas where the effects of differential focus is apparent.
Again many thanks for all your input, very useful, and as I said they underlined what I already thought
If this is a scan, then you need to alter your scanning to process your slides correctly. Your scanner has brought through the colours from the base layer of the film. That can be neutralised by calibrating the scanner software to the film stock, or in Photoshop.
Discussion
9 replies600mm f/4, 1/125 sec @ f11, tripod mounted, electrical cable release used.
Paul
Nice shot of a house sparrow you don't see too many of these now days. I think the bird is too central for me and I am not sure you are getting the best out of your processing. Is this a digital file or a scan from slide. This forum is great for getting help on processing as there is all ways some one willing to help and offer advice. I think you need it
Danny
Nice shot though of a very handsome little bird.
you are right though the sparrow does get overlooked and is a really great bird to have around.
I would also suggest that maybe a smaller poolside perch would be better and certainly one not rising in the backgroiund which can lead to obtrusive OOF areas in the background as in this shot..I always place mine in a line with the water level to avoid the problem I have refferred to. A minor nit would be getting the bird over to the left more, to avoid the out of shot mode.
JR
I agree with comments about processing - I think you need some help/advice/practice to get the best out of your images as at the moment they just don't look quite right - maybe monitor calibration etc? Aside from techs, the light is harsh, the comp is too central for me and also the branch really dominates and makes the scene look too busy - however, a decent record shot of an interesting little bird.
Mark
It has nothing to do with Photoshop processing, as apart from sizing for the net only two passes of Unsharp mask were applied, and even applying that was debatable.
The image is a scan, and the effect being seen, is how the scanning software interprets areas where the effects of differential focus is apparent.
Again many thanks for all your input, very useful, and as I said they underlined what I already thought
If this is a scan, then you need to alter your scanning to process your slides correctly. Your scanner has brought through the colours from the base layer of the film. That can be neutralised by calibrating the scanner software to the film stock, or in Photoshop.