Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge
Natural or over-processed
Any suggestions for improvement are appreciated
(If backgrounds have been removed, etc. please be honest with your techniques to help others learn)
Processed in Photoshop/ACR, to set the white and black point and color balance. Sharpened,
added a little clarity, and vibrancy.
I really like the reflection on the water and the light, Ray. Detail in the coot is excellent, but for my taste, it feels a touch oversharpened and the back and sides feel a bit too bright, but then I tend to like black birds darker than a lot of people. The head turn is nice and I like the way the red bill patch pops.
Thank you for your insightful critique, Dennis. I am still getting used to NPN editing preferences despite the fact that have been a member for many years. The sun was quite strong and pretty low on the horizon when this photo was captured. The Coot was strongly lit, but perhaps the exposure is too strong. I did some overall sharpening, something I will avoid in the future. Again, thank you for taking the time to provide you clear and precise insights.
Ray: I think you have the potential for a nice image here. The water and the coot position are very nice. I read the comment from Dennis and agree that as presented it feels very bright. The image also has a pretty strong magenta color cast to it. I reviewed the image in Photoshop and made a couple of quick adjustments to address the color cast and the brightness on the body of the coot. See what you think.
I like what you have done Keith. I can now see what you and Dennis are suggesting. I will go back and attempt to correct it based on both critiques. Thank you for taking the time to demonstrate the suggested improvements.
Nice catch Ray and I love seeing that red eye. Agree with Dennis and Keith on their critiques. Bird seems a bit oversharpened and I’d try running noise reduction on the rest of the image.
Nice capture of the coot. Nice sharp red eye and getting the red on the forehead. Like the ripples in the water. Agree with changes Keith made to take some of the shine off the feathers.
Allen, thanks for taking the time to comment. I have the RAW file, so I will go back and reprocess the photo based on the suggestions I have received. Ray
