Okay, I have taken the thoughts you of @terryb@Dennis_Plank@Allen_Sparks and @Diane_Miller and tried to improve this shot. It is the first where I have caught an Egret with the fish about to go down and even catch the eye of the fish so I am hoping the changes has made this a better image. I did over do the Denoise in LR. I hadn’t used it before. I also didn’t realize that is what you would need to do first, then conduct the rest of the edits. Read that after I had done this image. Let me know what you think. I appreciate the help.
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Questions to guide your feedback
Does this shot make you feel sorry for the little fish?
Other Information
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Image Description
While at Chincoteague NWR this week I was able to get relatively close to this Egret while it was fishing. This is almost full frame, I did crop a tiny bit off the right side for better composition.
Technical Details
Shot with Canon R5, Sigma 150-600 mm C lens at 435 mm. Settings automatic except ISO, auto. 1/3200, f6.3, ISO 2500. Handheld. Used LR to edit, first using denoise then basic editing to reduce highlights and shadows.
Specific Feedback
I’m wondering if the colors and exposure look about right? Also the emotional impact of the shot, and does it tell a story?
Terrific catch, Shirley! Details are nice, though you did lose a bit in all that white. I find it difficult to get a lot of detail in solid whites and solid blacks. Nice bg to boot. Well done. And no, I don’t feel sorry for the fish. It’s all part of nature and survival. Plus, I have eaten fish myself!
Follow on: Nice detail in the whites. You might think about adjusting the crop a trifle. It feels kind of odd to have the lower right corner cropped where it is with just a touch of the legs and that little bit of area behind them showing.
Thank you, @terryb and @Dennis_Plank for viewing and commenting. I too eat fish, Terry, in fact we had Salmon tonight. I guess seeing the little guy about to go down the hatch alive was a bit emotive to me.
Dennis, unfortunately I should have pulled back a little, but didn’t, so I actually cropped the legs and back part of the Egret off in the shot. I was concentrating on the head of the Egret and the activity of him fishing.
Hi Shirley,
nice catch of the flip. I always love to see behavioral captures like this. Great timing. Nice exposure on the whites but bird seems a tad soft.
Nice capture!! I’ve seen a few images that make me feel sorry for the fish, but those were cases where the eye was visible and I could feel it had a pathetic, resigned look. This one evokes a decisive moment response, and a down the hatch feeling.
Whites look pretty good – all depends on what the raw file captured. I assume you balanced Exposure, Highlights down and Whites up if there was any headroom left, to pull out tonal separation. I think the LR Denoise went a bit too far and softened things. Maybe back off, or try in PS.
I think the composition would be fine if you cropped a bit more from the right to get rid of the leg. Looks like a nice opportunity – hope you got lots more!
Thank you, Diane. Yes, I think LR Denoise went a bit too far too. I started working on it from scratch but I haven’t got it completely edited yet. I will watch closely on the highlights and whites too. I was thinking about cropping in more too, so I appreciate you sharing that thought as well. I got quite a few shots the 2 afternoons I was there, but of course it is a lot of the same birds, so hopefully I will have a good one or two to pick from out of each setting. Thank you for your time and your comments.
I really like the new crop – it lets me really home in on the best part. The back of the bird seemed to fall out of the focal plane and didn’t have much happening there. And I completely missed the eye – apologies! So now I feel sorry for the fish!
I’m curious where you saw the thing about doing the denoise first? As far as I know all the edit steps in LR are flexible in the order they’re done. There may be a logic to it, but I’m surprised there would be a needed order?
@Diane_Miller , thank you for reviewing and providing the feedback. Quite helpful. To find where it said to do the Denoise first, on the Enhance Dialog Box in blue letters it say “Learn more” and when I clicked on it it brought up the browser with instruction for Denoise. Down part way in a box it recommended doing Denoise before using other tools in LR. I hope that helps. Thanks again. Glad you like this version.
Wonderful capture of this Egret having a snack.
Fish, especially minnows are largely meant as food for the larger “Up the food chain” animals so no need to feel bad for the fish even with the eye showing.
A strange feeling for me was when I ordered fish in a New York City Restaurant, they brought it out whole, the head was still attached! But, it had been fully cooked!
I was hungry and I knew it was just a matter of acceptance.
You’ve already received lots of good technical advice so I won’t add anything to it but I will say “Great Capture!”
AH – other Tools, such as selection things, but that’s not the same thing as the other normal Edits, such as the things in the General tab. But I had missed that detail – thanks for reading the fine print for me!
Of course I don’t know how contrasty the raw file was, but for this sort of image, I wouldn’t necessarily think of doing anything to separate the BG from the bird – I’d just adjust Highlights (balanced with Exposure and Whites) and Shadows as best I could, with some going back and forth. If that isn’t enough I’d look at the other profiles and then the linear profile. But I may be becoming a fossil with that thinking. LR is becoming more of a one-stop shopping thing. I’ll try to remember to read the information for new tools!
Shirley, this is a great catch of a decisive moment. Getting good eyes for both the bird and the fish is special. The whites in the redo show much more detail. Cropping out the space behind and below the legs is good, but I like the curves in the folded wing. The tighter view does show off the fish better.
It ended up a beauty, Shirley! What a moment, and yes, I do feel for the fish. I know it’s how the world works, but still sucks to be at the bottom of the food chain. The new crop shows this aspect quite well. Good job!
