Background - ok as is ? or still a bit distractive ?
Thanks for your feedback guys! Here is what I did
1 - Went back 1 step - removing that Orton effect
2 - Using TK7, I then reduced the luminosity in Lights 2
3 - applied just a little glow to the Roadrunner, snake and top left background
4 - Light vignette using Nik Color Effex
What artistic feedback would you like if any?
Pertinent technical details or techniques:
(If this is a composite, etc. please be honest with your techniques to help others learn)
Nikon D4s 300mm F2.8
1/4000sec F8 iso 1200![_DSC9647-Edit-Edit|690x470]
Processed in LR with Luminar 4, including some Orton Effect on the background (upload://sjC42sYXlrFEENHfDZu5sM8vNbn.jpeg)
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I like the action and moment captured. Really nice. My first reaction before reading anything was that the background appeared to be replaced. After reading, not replace, but processed to blur using Orton and maybe other techniques. I don’t know what was originally there, but the DOF falloff isn’t a natural look. At f/2.8 with a 300mm, I would assume the background is at least pretty soft.
Karl, it’s a wonderful capture. The pose of the roadrunner is awesome.
I’d love to see the original without the “processed” background. I’m in Keith’s camp in that it doesn’t look entirely natural to me, and I wonder if I’d prefer the original.
Spectacular nature story here Karl, very nice. The posture of the roadrunner leaning forward with its tail leaning at a 45 degree angle makes for a very dynamic image. And I like that you left this much space to the right of the snake.
I would add some vignetting along the frame edges to focus more attention on the bird and snake. I might also reduce the luminosity of the highlights in the background, for the same reason.
The background does seem a bit too soft, and does not quite look right to me. I too would be interested in seeing the original to look at the background.
The action in this image is so great, it’s worth tweaking it in processing to take it up another notch.
Thanks Ed - I must get used to lowering background lights more. Here is what I did
1 - Went back 1 step - removing that Orton effect
2 - Using TK7, I then reduced the luminosity in Lights 2
3 - applied just a little glow to the Roadrunner, snake and top left background
4 - Light vignette using Nik Color Effex Pro
Great action in your image. The detail is wonderful. Color on the Roadrunner is wonderful. I love the detail of the foreground, with the blur of the background…it gives a feeling of depth. The only slight nit is that color on the background is a bit “hot” and therefore distracting.
I am still not convinced with the BG either way. It feels blotchy. Otherwise, this is an amazing image, Karl. I took a stab at it trying to remove the “blotchiness” that I saw just at the bird’s upper right area, but I got carried away. This is an amazing image, Karl. Worth working this a little more.
Karl I love this image for the nature story. I agree with the blotchiness comments on the background. I think @Adhika_Lie rework has the best background vs. all of your own reworks. The action here is so amazing you need invest the time to get a better looking background. Adhikas version looks the best so far. I think your rework has tamed the background highlights, and the vignette helps, but the blotchy shapes in the background compete with the subject. Adhikas version removes that, I suspect via Gaussian blur in Photoshop.
What would really help us make comments is to also post the un-editted raw file to review (crop it the same as the final image though if this is a crop).
Karl just a friendly FYI, the NPN website has a Private Message feature to allow private conversations here on the NPN site, without needing to go thru email. You just click on your avatar image to bring up other features, including PM’s via the envelope logo.
@Karl_Zuzarte, unfortunately I didn’t save the PSD file. I do not use Gaussian blur in this case, just the regular clone tools: “big” soft brush with low flow is the key. And don’t forget to protect the subject by making an inverse selection of them. I used the “subject” selection from the drop down menu and it seemed to work quite well with this. I expand it by two pixels, then feather is by two pixels, and then inverse the selection to select the background.
That is some amazing wildlife behavior to observe and photograph. Working as a wildlife biologist for a dozen years in the desert southwest, I had always hoped to witness a roadrunner/rattlesnake interaction, but never did. Wonderful capture of the encounter and I agree that the least distracting background is the most appealing and looks the most natural.
