Theme Wood Stork

[Joseph Przybyla]

• NIKON CORPORATION NIKON D7000
• 80.0-400.0 mm f/4.5-5.6
• ƒ/5.6
• 290mm
• 1/1000s
• ISO 125
• Joseph J. Przybyla
• Flash not fired
• Thu, 24 December 2015 11:19 AM
• © Joseph J. Przybyla
• Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Classic 7.4 (Windows)

I captured this image at Lake Mirror in Lakeland, Florida. Comments and critique welcomed and appreciated. Thank you for viewing.

Nikon D7000
Nikon 80-400mm F/4.5-5.6 VRII AF-S ED image captured at 290mm
1/1000 F/5.6 Matrix Metering EV -1/3 ISO 125 Auto WB, camera supported by a monopod
Post processed in Lightroom Classic CC and Photoshop CC 2018
Cropped for composition and presentation

 

[Jack Backs]

Nice image. Overcast day? Intriguingly ugly bird. It would have been nice if there a little less plumage covering the lower part of the bill.

 

[Dorian Anderson]

Exposure control on the whites is excellent - so much detail! I don't mind the fluffy feathers around the bill, they add some nice texture. Looks like the sun was perfectly filtered.

 

[John Mack]

Detail is great on this one. The composition works well here. The soft light really looks nice on the bird.

 

[Allen Sparks]

Hi Joseph,
A fine portrait of this "beauty". Details and exposure look great. Well done.
Allen

 

[Arthur Morris]

• Flash not fired
• Adobe Photoshop CC 2017 (Macintosh)

I am always reluctant to comment on images that look too dark as I suspect that my "calibrated" monitor is a bit too dark ...

So I opened this one in Photoshop and found the brightest WHITEs as post coming in something like this: R=225, G = 221, B= 215. So yes, too dark overall. I brought the image into Photoshop and did a Curves adjustment as seen in the screen capture ...

LMK if you have any questions.

with love, artie

 

[Joseph Przybyla]

I am always reluctant to comment on images that look too dark as I suspect that my "calibrated" monitor is a bit too dark ...

So I opened this one in Photoshop and found the brightest WHITEs as post coming in something like this: R=225, G = 221, B= 215. So yes, too dark overall. I brought the image into Photoshop and did a Curves adjustment as seen in the screen capture ...

LMK if you have any questions.

with love, artie

Okiedoke... I can do that, will work on it tomorrow morning and repost. Thanks Artie...

 

[annmpacheco]

Its a lovely image Joe, the tilt of the head is endearing, and all those gorgeous feather puffed so beautifully... I'm going to try to understand Arties curve edits as I am trying to learn this... wonderful portrait.

 

[Joseph Przybyla]

• NIKON CORPORATION NIKON D7000
• 80.0-400.0 mm f/4.5-5.6
• ƒ/5.6
• 290mm
• 1/1000s
• ISO 125
• Joseph J. Przybyla
• Flash not fired
• Thu, 24 December 2015 11:19 AM
• © Joseph J. Przybyla
• Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Classic 7.4 (Windows)

Hey Artie, as promised here is a repost editing the image with a duplicated of your curve. As I check the whites the brightest feathers now are 94% in Lightroom or 240 on the black-white scale. I also can see an improvement from lifting the mid-tones and darks. Thanks again for helping.

 

[Arthur Morris]

Hey Joe, The repost is much, much better. It is best to get most of the exposure stuff done during the RAW conversion. To do that with all of my Canon and Nikon images I start with the WHITEs if the image is properly exposed. If the image is under even a bit, I increase the Exposure first and then go to the WHITEs. All of the above and the Curves stuff and tons and tons more is detailed in Digital Basics II.

with love, artie

 

[Arthur Morris]

Its a lovely image Joe, the tilt of the head is endearing, and all those gorgeous feather puffed so beautifully... I'm going to try to understand Arties curve edits as I am trying to learn this... wonderful portrait.

Hi AMP,

#1: it would be much better to handle the WHITEs and the BLACKs during the RAW conversion, be they .CR.2s or .NEFs. See my comments in Pane #10.

#2: Here is what I did with the Curves adjustment. I pinned the middle of the Curves with the three dots close together. Then I raised the WHITEs by pulling the curve up -- in the upper right. Then I opened up the darker middle tones by pulling the curve up -- lower left.

This stuff too is covered in detail in DB II, The BIRDS AS ART Current Workflow e-Guide. It includes dozens and dozens of Photoshop tips and covers the basics of RAW conversions in both ACR and DPP

with love, artie

 

[Joseph Przybyla]

Hey Joe, The repost is much, much better. It is best to get most of the exposure stuff done during the RAW conversion. To do that with all of my Canon and Nikon images I start with the WHITEs if the image is properly exposed. If the image is under even a bit, I increase the Exposure first and then go to the WHITEs. All of the above and the Curves stuff and tons and tons more is detailed in Digital Basics II.

with love, artie

Hi Artie, I have your DBII and refer to it often. My workflow is very much as you describe doing the exposure and tone mapping on the NEF. Then convert to a 16 bit TIFF in Photoshop for noise reduction using Neat Image. Normally when I open the TIFF in Lightroom I only have to do the sharpening. Thanks again for your help, without your books, guides, and videos I would not have progressed to where I am in bird photography now.

 

[Arthur Morris]

Hey Joe,

Many thanks for your kind words. That has been the plan all along

with love, artie

 

[annmpacheco]

Hi AMP,

#1: it would be much better to handle the WHITEs and the BLACKs during the RAW conversion, be they .CR.2s or .NEFs. See my comments in Pane #10.

#2: Here is what I did with the Curves adjustment. I pinned the middle of the Curves with the three dots close together. Then I raised the WHITEs by pulling the curve up -- in the upper right. Then I opened up the darker middle tones by pulling the curve up -- lower left.

This stuff too is covered in detail in DB II, The BIRDS AS ART Current Workflow e-Guide. It includes dozens and dozens of Photoshop tips and covers the basics of RAW conversions in both ACR and DPP

with love, artie

Thank you Artie for explaining some for me to get back to reading/studying my copy of your DB II... Appreciate it. It is really such a treat to have you here on BPN both posting and commenting. The interaction and learning is so welcomed by all of us.

 

[Isaac Grant]

Classic Wood Stork portrait here. Repost is an improvement but to me it still is a bit dull and the white balance is off. I would put the whole photo on a new layer, then in curves I would take the white point dropper and put it over the brightest white spots on the bird until you got it about right. Then if necessary lower the opacity of the shot a touch. It will whiten up the whites a bit more and will make the blues more pleasing as well. Subtle differences but it will finish off this shot nicely.

 

[Joseph Przybyla]

Thanks everyone for viewing and commenting, very much appreciated.