Posted by Rohn B. McKee on August 30, 2010 at 6:27 PM
I took this photo of a pair of Sage Grouse last spring at first light. As you can tell, the light was very strong at a low angle. These birds seem to disperse very soon after sunrise. Any exposure suggestions for next time, would be appreciated.
7D, 500mm+1.4, ISO 800, .33ev, f/11, 1/250, Shot from truck window. histogram clips a little of the white end thus the blown out whites on the Cock.
Posted by John Mumaw on August 30, 2010 at 6:54 PM
I can't think of a thing that you could have changed while you were 'in the moment'. It's a pretty good catch of a fleeting moment, in fact. Love the fact that you got catch lights in their eyes, and the one bird framed by the tail feathers of the other is really nice.
I have a suggestion that can help make this one 'pop' a bit more, though.
Select the overexposed whites, then inverse the selection so everything but the whites are selected. Then apply these settings in Unsharp Mask:
Amount-20
Radius-50
Threshold-0
This won't sharpen the image at all, but rather helps eliminate the slight 'haze' present.
Posted by Bill Pelzmann on August 30, 2010 at 7:43 PM
If you shot RAW, have you tried recovering some of the blown highlights by merging a separate development with -1 or -2 stops?
Posted by Erik Aagaard on August 31, 2010 at 11:43 AM
What a great moment!
I don't know that it's exposure so much - to my eye, the issue is that the background is very similar in tone to the birds - they almost blend in. (Which is a good thing, from their perspective!)
The only thing differentiating the birds from the background is that the background is nicely out of focus. I wonder if selectively darkening the background might make the birds "pop" more? It might also take attention away from the dark rock shadows, since the background and the shadows would be somewhat closer in tone. If this were my image, I might also consider blurring the foreground somewhat.
Erik
Posted by Mel Ladewig on September 1, 2010 at 9:34 AM
ISO 800 may be prompting the white to clip earlier. All digital sensors trend to less dynamic range as ISO increases. I don't know if you can shoot your 500+1.4X at 1/125, but ISO 400 would help you out here. The next thing to do would be to underexpose slightly, 1/3 to 2/3 stop to protect the highlights. But this will result in a grainier image at ISO800. But I think underexposure could lend a bit more separation between the grouse and the brush and a bit higher contrast within the brush. F8 would produce a smoother background, but it doesn't appear that you would have sufficient depth of field.
Anything else I would recommend all goes to the post processing rather than the exposure in the field.
Discussion
4 replies7D, 500mm+1.4, ISO 800, .33ev, f/11, 1/250, Shot from truck window. histogram clips a little of the white end thus the blown out whites on the Cock.
I have a suggestion that can help make this one 'pop' a bit more, though.
Select the overexposed whites, then inverse the selection so everything but the whites are selected. Then apply these settings in Unsharp Mask:
Amount-20
Radius-50
Threshold-0
This won't sharpen the image at all, but rather helps eliminate the slight 'haze' present.
I don't know that it's exposure so much - to my eye, the issue is that the background is very similar in tone to the birds - they almost blend in. (Which is a good thing, from their perspective!)
The only thing differentiating the birds from the background is that the background is nicely out of focus. I wonder if selectively darkening the background might make the birds "pop" more? It might also take attention away from the dark rock shadows, since the background and the shadows would be somewhat closer in tone. If this were my image, I might also consider blurring the foreground somewhat.
Erik
Anything else I would recommend all goes to the post processing rather than the exposure in the field.