Critique Style Requested: Standard
The photographer is looking for generalized feedback about the aesthetic and technical qualities of their image.
In Lords Cove, Old Lyme, CT last month from my kayak.
All comments and suggestions are welcome and thanks for viewing.
Fujifilm X-H2, XF 70-300 with 1.4 extender (420mm), ISO 1000, f/8, 1/2000. About a 50% crop and made some adjustments to exposure in post production.
Hi Jim, I like the in flight pose of the bird with both underwings visible and also space for the bird to move into. The whites looks blown out though and the darker underwings appear to have shadows raised a bit too much to be realistic. I’m wondering if lowering the whites in the RAW file would help and not raising shadows so much. I use darker settings for strong light such as this with a subject having white plumage. I start at ISO 400, f7.1, 1/3200s and adjust from there in full sunlight. Still, a fine catch and not a small feat shooting from your kayak.
Good catch, Jim. The first thing I noticed was the blown out whites on the head-something you really have to fight on Bald Eagles and Ospreys. There appears to be quite a bit of noise in the background vegetation, which would lead me to think you may have brought the exposure up considerably in post processing. If so, you have a good chance of recovering those whites. I echo Allen’s comment on the kayak-I was always afraid of leaning too far for fear I’d upset the thing.
Cool capture of the eagle, Jim. Dennis and Allen have already pointed out some of the issues with this image, but they should be easily fixable. Looks like you metered off the wings which have good details. Congrats on a nice image in a challenging setting.
Allen and Dennis have provided some good advice. One never knows until you try it and see how it looks, but I wonder if the eagle would show better with a darker background. In any event, I really like this image-a nice flying position, a close view , and it’s flying against a nice background (something other than blue sky). Good job from the kayak. You must be proficient in its use; no way I’d take a non-waterproof camera out on a kayak or canoe.
Hi Allen, thank you for your helpful critique. I had tried lowering the highlights to reduce the blown out whites, but that didn’t work, so reduced the overall exposure which did work (got rid of all the red dots indicating overexposure). But I guess you can’t always recover blown out areas successfully. Looking at it again, your right about the shadows being raised too much.
Thanks for your help Allen. I got a couple of shots when he was lower with more foliage in the background, but they weren’t as sharp. Being on the water allows me to see and photograph many more birds than otherwise. Yes, risky having my camera with me, but I’m pretty confident in my boat and only go out during relatively calm conditions and keep my cam in a waterproof bag between my legs; I can usually get it out and ready to shoot in 30s.
@S_Govindarajan , thanks for taking the time to view and comment!
