DOF issues on larger bird

[James Babbitt]

• Canon EOS 7D Mark II
• EF500mm f/4L IS II USM
• ƒ/4.5
• 500mm
• 1/125s
• ISO 400
• Flash fired
• Tue, 05 June 2018 12:30 PM
• Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Classic 9.3 (Windows)

Daniel posted a flycatcher previously where there was DOF issue because of the size of bird, proximity of bird and lens used. This is a similar situation that I encounter frequently; this may be my own ineptitude concerning lens and/or camera selection-I have a tendency to use too much lens.
This bird was shot in a rehabilitation center in Sylvan Heights NC. Many of the birds there are semi free roaming with a 30-40 feet high net overhead enclosing the birds. Space is limited as patrons are not to leave the paved walk ways so I could not back up. I took this shot with a 7D2 and a 500 mm II off a tripod because I was trying to shoot some parakeets across a small pond when this bird, a Red-crested Turaco (native to Africa) strolled by. I was close to the MFD so changing my f/stop would have made little difference and my SS was already 1/125. I have been hesitant to raise the ISO on my 7D2 so it was at 400. The picture was processed in DPP, LR, and PS, a small amount of canvas was added to the top and left. Noise was reduced with Topaz DeNoise AI. I selectively used a curve layer to reduce brightness of the white around the eye and top of beak. Contrast was elevated to 20 via adjustment layer.
Question: would you crop more of the OOF body off? Any other suggestions?

 

[David Roach]

I like the focus falloff in this one. My eyes start at bottom right and move immediately to that eye, that crest, that beak. Then back to eye. Only wish for more on top. TFS

ps
Details in red crest....

 

[Randy Stout]

• Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Classic 9.3 (Windows)

James:

Lovely bird, very nice head turn towards us. Nice catchlight. I would consider a crop as shown, plus add some more canvas on the top. This is very much a matter of personal taste, but I think reducing some of the bulk of the back in the frame really plays up the head, the star of the image.

There are times when the flexibility of a high quality zoom lens is a good choice, when you can't do a foot zoom or control your shooting situation in other ways.

Cheers

Randy

 

[Daniel Cadieux]

Yep, same issue I had with the flycatcher I posted. Dof fall-off works much better when the bird is facing us, rather than looking back at us. Best is having the bird fully parallel, or just a few degrees angled towards us. It's because it is almost always more pleasing when the oof areas on the subject are behind it rather than in front. Same as when photographing a group of birds, you want to focus on the one in front, and let the others be oof behind. For full-body images this is less of an issue. In my image the large interesting prey item kinda takes the spotlight out of this effect, and here it is the gorgeous colours of the bird you photographed that helps take our eye away from the large oof body in front.

My 7DII seems to live on ISO 800-1600, and I'll bump it to 3200 if needed, so you definitely had room to move there.

Comp-wise, the framing needed to be cropped as per Randy, or have more room top and left. Sharp where it needs to be, and a perfect head angle for this pose.

 

[Randy Stout]

James:

I certainly agree with Daniel that you can push your ISO a bit more. Esp. since you are using Topaz Denoise AI, which can really help save noisy images. I use it sparingly and fiddle with multiple different settings, and it is slow to preview and esp. save the result, even with a pretty fast computer, but for a special image that needs some anti noise love, it is a very useful tool.

Randy

 

[John Mack]

Love the colors on this bird.

 

[James Babbitt]

Thank you for looking. I will take it back to PS and see what I can do. The white border on top of the crest looks like it is backlit, but the bird actually has a white streak that runs down the crest.

I like the focus falloff in this one. My eyes start at bottom right and move immediately to that eye, that crest, that beak. Then back to eye. Only wish for more on top. TFS

ps
Details in red crest....

 

[James Babbitt]

Thank you for your thoughts. I like your crop.It certainly centers the head/eye. I had a 100-400 II in my backpack but was not quick enough to make the change. Seems to happen to me a lot. Sometimes being too close is a good problem to have.

James:

Lovely bird, very nice head turn towards us. Nice catchlight. I would consider a crop as shown, plus add some more canvas on the top. This is very much a matter of personal taste, but I think reducing some of the bulk of the back in the frame really plays up the head, the star of the image.

There are times when the flexibility of a high quality zoom lens is a good choice, when you can't do a foot zoom or control your shooting situation in other ways.

Cheers

Randy

 

[James Babbitt]

I will try to be more bold with my ISO. You are much more skilled in determining proper exposure than I am. I am paranoid about blowing highlights and as a consequence have a tendency to underexpose, thus exaggerating the ISO issue.

Yep, same issue I had with the flycatcher I posted. Dof fall-off works much better when the bird is facing us, rather than looking back at us. Best is having the bird fully parallel, or just a few degrees angled towards us. It's because it is almost always more pleasing when the oof areas on the subject are behind it rather than in front. Same as when photographing a group of birds, you want to focus on the one in front, and let the others be oof behind. For full-body images this is less of an issue. In my image the large interesting prey item kinda takes the spotlight out of this effect, and here it is the gorgeous colours of the bird you photographed that helps take our eye away from the large oof body in front.

My 7DII seems to live on ISO 800-1600, and I'll bump it to 3200 if needed, so you definitely had room to move there.

Comp-wise, the framing needed to be cropped as per Randy, or have more room top and left. Sharp where it needs to be, and a perfect head angle for this pose.

 

[James Babbitt]

I have been happy with DeNoise AI. I find it works better for me with luminance noise than it does with color noise.

James:

I certainly agree with Daniel that you can push your ISO a bit more. Esp. since you are using Topaz Denoise AI, which can really help save noisy images. I use it sparingly and fiddle with multiple different settings, and it is slow to preview and esp. save the result, even with a pretty fast computer, but for a special image that needs some anti noise love, it is a very useful tool.

Randy

 

[James Babbitt]

Truly a beautiful bird. The body is a combination of deep green and blue and like many birds, when caught at the right light angle absolutely glows. I would love to see one in its natural habitat. Maybe one day soon the world will allow that.

Love the colors on this bird.

 

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi James, a question unrelated to previous comments, but why are you using DPP & LR, as they are both Raw converters? I agree with one or the other, coupled with PSCC, but cannot see any advantage going from DPP, to LR, just curious?

 

[James Babbitt]

Actually I do not use DPP to convert. I only use DPP for my final culling. I use Fast Raw Viewer for my initial culling, but like DPP for final culling as it allows some minor tweaking so I can see if an image might be "salvageable". I do not like Fast Raw Viewers tools as well. I could use LR for the same purpose, but have just developed a habit of using DPP. Once I perform my final cull, I save all the RAW keepers and import into LR and go from there. To my eyes, I don't see any difference between conversion with DPP and LR. I know there are many who feel that, for Canon RAW, DPP produces better colors. I just find the presets in LR are quicker for me and I do like the organization capabilities of LR.

Hi James, a question unrelated to previous comments, but why are you using DPP & LR, as they are both Raw converters? I agree with one or the other, coupled with PSCC, but cannot see any advantage going from DPP, to LR, just curious?

 

[Krishna Prasad kotti]

Love the colors on this one.

Like the crop posted by Randy.

Well done.

TFS

 

[James Babbitt]

Agreed. I have changed my crop for my saved JPEG files to more closely resemble Randy's. Centers the bird's head better.

Love the colors on this one.

Like the crop posted by Randy.

Well done.

TFS

 

[Brian Sump]

This is a very pretty bird and a pretty solid image overall. A couple small tweaks can go a long way James.

Thanks for sharing!