So it was challenging in terms of light and not wanting to scare the bird more than it probably was. In hindsight, I should have overexposed more, but I didn’t. There is detail in the shadows though and so I think it can work. Have at it peeps!
I’ve uploaded a version of my edit for an idea of where I was going, but am open to suggestions.
You may only download this file to demonstrate how you would process the image. The file is Copyright of the photographer, and you must delete the raw file when you are done. Please post a jpg of what you created, explain what you did, and why you did it.
Kris, I took a swing at things and it maybe too much but it only took a few minutes.
I set the entire scene to 242-243-244 highlight 15-15-15 shadow 126-126-126 neutral.
I selected the left eye area and raised the brightness and contrast there. Than I selected the entire head and raised the brightness and contrast there too.
OK Kris: I’m afraid my edit was a lot more complicated than Paul’s, which probably means he knows what he’s doing and I don’t. Here’s my result and I 'll go through the steps below with accompanying screen shots:
Hidden in the PS panel is a Topaz Adjustment to the Owlet to bring out feather texture using an old plugin called Topaz Detail3. The same functionality is in their Studio 2 Suite, but it’s more complicated in my opinion, so I’ll stick with this one until it’s no longer compatible.
Then back to LR where I found a few hot small hot spots, so I lowered highlights 10 points and then used the local adjustment brush to bring up the face and warm it just a bit:
@Dennis_Plank looks really good to me too. I do not use LR so all my stuff is old style Photoshop usage. I like the crop idea also. I did not think to process beyond the basics and now see where I might have done some more things. When images have the composition and in focus the sky is the limit for creative processing ideas…
I didn’t use LR for anything but file organization for years, but it’s gotten some nice features the last few years that let you do some subtle adjustments that are more difficult in PS. I’m particularly fond of the new Point color adjustments and the local adjustment brush that lets you put any kind of adjustment you want on the brush and tweak them after the fact. The latter is amazingly good for last minute touch-ups.
Thanks @Paul_Breitkreuz & @Dennis_Plank - I really appreciate your input and talents. Possibly I was thinking that pushing those shadows too much would look strange, but the video I shot looks very much like your edits and so I will probably start over from scratch and see what happens. I use both Lr and Ps extensively so can harness the power of both. I have Topaz Sharpen AI which can substitute for Details because that’s what I have.
Sure, Kris. Put it there. It’s a rework. Nice job and I wouldn’t want you to copy what I did exactly (and I don’t think I described it well enough to do so anyhow).
