Vermilion Flycatcher

Gallery: AvianPosted May 18, 2013300 views7 comments

Vermilion Flycatcher, male. Taken at Covington Park, Morongo Valley, California.
Nikon D800, 600mm + 1.4x TC + SB-900 Flash set on TTL (-1.7 EV)
ISO 1000, 1/2500 f/6.3

This is a repost of the same image I posted 2 days ago which have some issues with over saturation, halo and S/H.
I'd like to thank all the viewers' advice and suggestions. I'm relatively new to Photoshop and digital processing and I really appreciate the knowledge and experience I gain from posting on this forum.
I did some tweaking with this new image, hope the viewers will like it better than the previous one.

Comments and suggestions are still welcome.

Comments

7 comments

Comment posted by Ken Watkins on May 19, 2013 at 2:37 AM

Tjie,

You really would not know this was the same image as this is far better. I would still prefer slightly more sharpening and would definitely consider cropping to eliminate the left hand branch. Photoshop puzzles me as well, there are just too many tweaks, most guaranteed to make an image look far from natural.

Registered on December 15, 2010, 1537 Posts, 4877 Comments

Comment posted by Patrick O'Healy on May 19, 2013 at 7:45 AM

Very nice shot and improved image.

Registered on March 13, 2011, 326 Posts, 1679 Comments

Comment posted by Sharon Hallowell on May 19, 2013 at 7:58 AM

Great job! This little guy was definitely worth the rework. Photoshop is the same for me...but with more experience and training my eyes are learning to see that a little bit of adjustment (no matter the tool used) goes a long way. Also, it makes me strive to try to get the image right in the camera ...and not rely on the hope that I can "fix" it later.
I'm amazed at what an improvement you've made with this photo! Sharon

Registered on November 1, 2003, 392 Posts, 4810 Comments

Comment posted by Richard Ditch on May 19, 2013 at 1:10 PM

This is definitely an improvement and you've addressed the major tonal issues of the previous version. As already mentioned it needs to be sharper. There are still problems with the detail in the vermilion colored feathers and I suspect the red channel is still over exposed/saturated. When I work this species here in AZ I try to have the softest light possible to keep the reds under control. It is rarely an easy task.

Registered on November 1, 2003, 1031 Posts, 12705 Comments

Comment posted by Craig Strand on May 19, 2013 at 2:56 PM

Nice job, I think the larger view gives a better idea on how nicely you handled the reds

Registered on March 30, 2008, 416 Posts, 2885 Comments

Comment posted by Jim Zablotny on May 19, 2013 at 4:10 PM

Hi,

This image is coming along nicely. A tough exposure in very difficult lighting and the image looks a lot better with the red channel toned down a bit................Jim

Registered on January 17, 2004, 705 Posts, 3594 Comments

Comment posted by Kirk Greene on May 21, 2013 at 4:37 PM

Excellent progress from 1st post of this image. My main recommendations from here are to slightly desaturated the reds by -3 to -5 and crop the image to eliminate the branch on the left. Keep working with PS. It's a great tool when you get it.

Registered on May 12, 2004, 191 Posts, 1578 Comments