Seen in Florida last month.
I was finding getting the right exposure on this bird a bit of a challenge with the jet black neck and brighter wing feathers. I upped the dark areas a good bit in this image. Any thoughts?
Is this a composite: No
Canon 7DII, Sigma 150-600 C
ISO 400, f10, 1/640s, hand held
First, you caught a great pose and head turn, Allen. Second, when you brought the blacks up it looks as if it affected some areas that were better left alone. For instance i don’t recall the wings being that light (it’s been five years now so don’t take that as gospel), and it looks like you faded out the blue around the eye. I think some careful masking of the adjustment would really pay off. The blacks look great for my taste. Nice and rich but still with detail.
Like this a lot, Allen. I agree it is a little tough dealing with the white-whites and black-blacks. It looks like you addressed them with balance. Like the bg and backward look of the bird.
Wayne
I find this a very attractive image. The black and white pattern in the wings really stands out. Nice head turn and background.
I really like the composition with the position of the wings at a diagonal. Head is in a perfect place and angle. The image flows quite well and the out of focus background works primarily because of the color difference between the bird and its environment. These birds are very hard to photograph with accuracy and detail but you have done that well here.
Quite a pose! Perfect head angle and I love that there is more of the right wing than the left.
I’m curious how you brought up the blacks?
If you have ACR, I’d suggest going back to the raw file and try the Shadows slider and maybe a slight move of Blacks. I’ve never had any success at all with any of the tonal adjustments in DPP, and I’ve tried many times.
@Diane_Miller , thanks Diane - I tried ACR on this image and one of the flying anhingas and I think it’s an improvement.
Very nice pose, amazing contrast in the colors of this bird! Great capture!
The Shadows and Highlights sliders in ACR are very good at bringing out subtle detail in very dark and light areas. If contrast gets too low, a touch of Clarity can bring it back.
