Lots of Lessons--Best to Get it Right in the Field!

Thanks to Lorant for posing this image. It led to a great thread with lots of lessons. As it turns out, we were unable to solve all of the problems because of an over-exposed RAW capture. So the big lesson is: getting it right in the field can make things a lot easier and even save an image from the trash bin.

later and love, artie......... Arthur Morris/BIRDS AS ART

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From Lorant:

It is very impressive to see these big birds flying. I like how this one was turning just before landing showing the feathers on the top. Thanks for looking.

1DMKIII
500mm f:4
ISO 500
f:5.6
1/800
handheld

greatpose here. Orange maybe clipped here. Also looks a bit soft. Watch for sharpening halos. Nice image well done

I think the exposure looks good; I can even see some details in the darker feathers. I do see a hint of halos, too, still, I would like to suggest perhaps a bit more sharpening to the eye ?

I agree colours may be overcooked, slight desaturation would do wonders, especially in the yellow/red frequencies. ditto some slight sharpening needed. great angle and shot though!!

As one who admittedly does not have a great eye for detail, I gotta say that I love this one: the beautiful dorsal view, the fully out-stretched wings, the killer grey BKGR, and even the trailing feet. All loverly. Almost forgot the perfect head turn.

Brought the image into Photoshop and the folks above were right. The red channel is toasted beyond all help. Best to re-convert in ACR paying attention to the highlight warnings and the color temp. It is likely save-able. See also the RED-ucation threads in ER. They were written for images like this....

Very nice image. Like the detail in the bird and the nice lighting.

Nice shot, I love these birds. How much crop and what was the subject distance. Maybe turn down the sat dial a bit, colors seem too rich?

Techs look nice, what was your point of focus? It is hard to be hard to hit his head/neck HH, I bet. Were you using center sensor only?

Thanks for the comments and suggestions. I am in the middle of an assignment, but I wanted to reply your comments

Artie, I will try saving the RED details. I have to learn a lot of PS for sure. I read the threads, but still not sure how to do it exactly. Is there a tutorial on the net on that?
Jeff, I always use the center sensor only and for birds in motion use All servo. It is a crop of course

Thanks again.

Hi Lorant, What are you using to convert your RAW files?

Thanks for the answers, I was wondering how much crop (%'s) and the point of focus - overall well done.

Great banking angle to show the dorsal view. Great contrast in colours Lorant.

Artie, I use Photoshop CS3 and it's Camera Raw.

Jeff, here is the original size, so you can see how much crop it is:


Thanks for your comments and help again.

Thanks Lorant. Go back to the RAW and reconvert. Make sure that you have the two warning boxes activated. Then move the Recovery slider to the right till the RED warnings disappear. If that does not get rid of them try -10 on the Saturation. And if that does not work, try moving the Exposure slider to the left. Once all the red warnings are gone, hit convert and post the resulting JPEG just as you did above. You can check out all of my advice for ACR here: http://www.birdsasart.com/bn291.htm It's in the 2nd item.

Thanks Artie. I don't have either red or blue warning sign in ACR. Used recovery, -10 saturation and a bit of exposure to the left. This is the image that came out. I don't know how it looks on your monitor, but the color doesn't look right on my laptop screen that isn't really accurate. Do you find this version better?

Thanks.

Lorant,

re:

Thanks Artie.

YAW.

I don't have either red or blue warning sign in ACR.

You do. You just do not know how to activate them. When the ACR Camera Raw opens there should be a histogram in the upper right. In the top corners of the box with the histogram, there are two squares. When you click on each square you will see a white border around the square. This indicates that the warnings are now active. You can click them repeatedly to toggle them on and off, but they should always be left on.

Used recovery, -10 saturation and a bit of exposure to the left.

The image that you posted just above still has burned highlights, lots of them. Without the warnings activated, you are working in the dark.

This is the image that came out. I don't know how it looks on your monitor, but the color doesn't look right on my laptop screen that isn't really accurate.

It is surely duller.

Do you find this version better?

No, because it is still grossly over-exposed. Go back, re-convert with the Highlight and Shadow warnings activated, and post the whole image if you are able to eliminate the red highlight warnings. If not, let me know.

In the meantime, go to ER and study the Reducation posts so that you can avoid having to go through this in the future....

The repost does not provide the real picture. The truth is between. The original post is a bit oversaturated but the repost is definitely under. I have seen those birds in Mexico and they are unusually strong pink indeed.

Despite the huge crop it is nice for web.

Szimi

Gyorgy Szimuly said:

The repost does not provide the real picture. The truth is between. The original post is a bit oversaturated but the repost is definitely under. I have seen those birds in Mexico and they are unusually strong pink indeed. Szimi

Click to expand...

Despite the fact that the last repost features dull colors it is still way over-exposed.

Lorant,

I like the original image, with a littlle top and right crop, thanks, nice work. The LHS pink reflection on the water is great!

Mayby post original with a nip and tuck.

I read the threads in ER about "REDucation". I don't exactly know how Juan did the -40 qand such on the red channel, but I understand the meaning.

However, I don't know why I still have flashing highlights. I opened the image in ARC and clicked on the little tabs...the highlight is pointed out with an arrow on the picture. I moved the sliders until I didn't have any red flashing. I double checked with pressing the ALT and moving the exposure sliders. Than I opened the image in PS and rechecked the red channel in the level histogram. It is attached too. Can you please let me know what I am doing wrong?

Thanks Artie for spending the time on me. It is really amazing how you guys help out.