Broke a few golden rules with this one, but luckily LR and PS saved the day. Heron backlit by sun, in order to save it I had to bring the shadows way up which blew out the sky. First attempt at PS with the background color.
D610, Tamron 150-600mm G1 at 450mm. 1/2000 sec, f/8, ISO 200.
Two weeks ago I would not have been able to take an image like this. Many thanks to all the help I have gotten here.
Any feedback is appreciated.
The light through the flight feathers on the far wing along with impeccable shadow detail really make this for me, Larry. Not mandatory, but if I was to go process crazy, I’d tone down the highlight on top of the near wing. I’m guessing that would help everything else pop even more.
Thank you Hank! I will work on that.
Very nice in flight shot, Larry! I agree with Hank’s comment on the highlight on top of the closest wing. I love the wing position, and the light shining through the feathers of the wing that is further away.
Edited version looks very nice. Shooting at ISO 200 really helped here because I don’t see much noise. Focus looks good; the bird is nice and sharp. I really like the back lighting. Nice job!
Thanks Lyle!!
Sometimes decreasing the highlights can lead to a blue cast on white plumage. If one uses the desasaturation brush over the decreased highlights, the blue cast can be eliminated or decreased. I set the amount of desaturation to 25% but adjust it accordingly.
Sorry to take so long to chime in here, Larry. The site problems and my schedule just haven’t gotten along the last few days. I like this, and I think you did a very good job bringing out the details in the bird and getting the exposure proper. The highlight didn’t bother me, but I do think the repost works even better. One trick I learned at a talk a year ago or so that might really make this image pop is to use the local adjustment brush in Lightroom to add a bit of light and maybe some warmth where you want the viewer’s attention to go. I find myself using it on most images as my final processing step before I export it. I usually apply it to the face and neck. You want to keep it subtle, so my beginning settings are +5 on the color temperature slider and +.10 on the exposure. Just brush it in and if you think you need more or less, you can adjust the sliders before you hit the “dome” button. I sometimes add some saturation and/or sharpening at the same time. That local adjustment brush is a very handy tool!
All I can say is wow… What a fine image. All your work was well conceived and executed. I’d enlarge this one a lot and put it in a prominent spot on a prominent wall.
Thank you Hank. It wouldn’t be what it is without the help of Dennis and others here.
Very nicely done, Larry. An excellent image.
