Posted by Liam Pauling on February 18, 2009 at 1:36 PM
Taken a few weeks ago, what do you think of the light? It was taken late morning as I was just about to leave after having taking almost no photographs this guy popped out from beneath me and started hunting. I got very lucky with the exposure as I was shooting manual and guessed as I wanted to get a shot before he flew off.
It seems that most of the egrets and herons have left for their breeding grounds, if you have a look at my blog you will see that I have found one, less than a mile from my house so hopefully this spring I will be able to get some good shots. C&C appreciated.
1/800s f/7.1 ISO200 400mm
http://sussexbirdphotography.blogspot.com/
Posted by David J Slater on February 18, 2009 at 2:38 PM
Because you're looking at the shady side of the bird it competes with the brighter water and shrub behind. Maybe brighten it all up and emphasize the bit of backlight on the bird. Don't worry about blowing highlights - our eyes can't see detail in sunny whites!
Posted by Matt Cole on February 19, 2009 at 3:24 AM
looks OK to me, I don't think there's much more you can have done here other than a bit of fill flash or to lighten the shadows a bit in PS.
Matt
Posted by Andy Astbury on February 19, 2009 at 8:18 AM
Hi Liam, hope you don't mind but I've done a very rough adjustment to your image.
I've quickly taken some blue from the highlights, done a very ropey tweak in Shadow/Highlight adjust to lift the dark area but try and preserve the whites, then done a tad of selective sharpening just around the head and body of the bird.
White birds against a dark background with an opposing sun are outside the dynamic range of most cameras, especially if the sun is well above the horizon.
As I said adjustments are VERY ropey but you'll get the general idea!
Matts spot on about the fill flash - a very useful tool to have at your disposal in very high contrast situations (if the subject will stand for it that is!!).
But the composition is nice and it's always great to see egrets - hope you get plenty more chances
Posted by Liam Pauling on February 19, 2009 at 1:16 PM
Thanks Andy, your adjustments look a lot better. I didn't realise how blue the bird was until you changed it, I am not quite sure on the lightened background but the bird looks a lot better lighter and sharpened.
Thanks
Posted by Magnus Hird on February 19, 2009 at 3:53 PM
I like the improvements to the egret in Andy's reworking but like you Liam I think keeping the rest of the scene darker would really emphasise the bird. Presume you can make the same adjustments to a selection of just the egret
Discussion
5 repliesIt seems that most of the egrets and herons have left for their breeding grounds, if you have a look at my blog you will see that I have found one, less than a mile from my house so hopefully this spring I will be able to get some good shots. C&C appreciated.
1/800s f/7.1 ISO200 400mm
http://sussexbirdphotography.blogspot.com/
Matt
I've quickly taken some blue from the highlights, done a very ropey tweak in Shadow/Highlight adjust to lift the dark area but try and preserve the whites, then done a tad of selective sharpening just around the head and body of the bird.
White birds against a dark background with an opposing sun are outside the dynamic range of most cameras, especially if the sun is well above the horizon.
As I said adjustments are VERY ropey but you'll get the general idea!
Matts spot on about the fill flash - a very useful tool to have at your disposal in very high contrast situations (if the subject will stand for it that is!!).
But the composition is nice and it's always great to see egrets - hope you get plenty more chances
Thanks