Bald Eagle duo

Image Critiques Avian Critiques
1

Bald Eagle 31.jpg
Bald Eagle 31.jpg1800×1200 1.46 MB

Bald Eagle 32.jpg
Bald Eagle 32.jpg1800×1200 1.13 MB

Bald Eagle 33.jpg
Bald Eagle 33.jpg1800×1200 989 KB

Bald Eagle 34.jpg
Bald Eagle 34.jpg1600×1200 517 KB

Critique Style Requested: Standard

The photographer is looking for generalized feedback about the aesthetic and technical qualities of their image.

Description

This should be the last series of bald eagles that I saw last weekend on my trip to Reelfoot Lake. This is a pair we saw in a cypress tree from the ranger’s boat.

Specific Feedback

I don’t think I manipulated the sky one way or another in these images but I notice now they seem to have a different appearance in each.

Technical Details

Canon R7, Sigma 150-600mm Contemporary
ISO 800, f7.1, 1/5000s, hand held

Processed in DXO PureRaw 3 and Photoshop.

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2 Likes
2

Excellent look at the eagle(s) in all four images. I particularly like the composition of the first one.

3

Sweet series (again!).
These are all excellent - very sharp detail.
I especially like the first 2, with the poses and take-off.
The blues ARE a little different - the first 2 lighter blue, and the second 2 a little darker. Easily corrected if you wish (not at all needed) with a slight change of blue saturation or tone.
Great images!

4

Another fine eagle series, Allen. You had a great trip. I do see the sky differences, but they don’t bother me.

5

You have done a wonderful job with these eagles – no nits at all!

I wonder if the difference is the skies isn’t just a slight exposure difference? It’s not so much saturation as lightness. I’m curious if the differences are still there if you copy the raw adjustments from one frame to the other three?

1 Like
6

Hi Diane. I think you’re right about the sky differences. I don’t have the RAW changes saved and usually make changes most on handling whites and bringing up the darks on the bird. I let the sky go where it will and just check that it is realistic.
I really don’t have a reason to keep the sky uniform across the photos but may look at it again just to see.

7

I’m curious where DXO fits in your workflow. I import a shoot into LR and when I was trying the PureRAW demo I called it up from LR and it returned a DNG file in the import filmstrip next to the raw file. It was fully editable as was the raw file, and those edits are permanent unless changed. As far as I saw, DXO in this case only did noise reduction. There is another Photo Lab thing that I haven’t looked at. I could copy any raw adjustments I made to the DXO dng file.

From LR it is easy to select several files (raw or dng) and Sync the raw adjustments. That uniformity is a very nice tool for a sequence like this one, for pictures taken in such a short time and so close together in distance. It encompasses both colors and tonal values, and then PS is useful for things like cloning and cropping that might change for the different frames.

8

I do DXO PureRaw 3 first thing in my workflow. It seems to do noise reduction only. It produces a dng that I then edit in ACR. Then I bring it into Photoshop. I have on occasion noted the settings I used in a series of similar shots and exposure for uniformity but I did not do that in this case.

9

Hi Diane
DXO PhotoLab 8 has four setting (High Quality, Prime, DeepPRIME, DeepPRIME XD/XD2s) each setting is adjustable and I set the level of Denoise when exporting the photograph. I set the level by ISO value and the amount of work the photograph needs.
You can get a free 30 trial of DXO PhotoLab 8.
Peter

10

Hi Allen
Nice work, with these Eagle.
Peter