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Large & Small
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Large & Small

by Bob Ampula

Gallery: AvianPosted October 23, 201361 views9 comments
The Great Egrets and juvenile Small Blue Heron were resting on a fence surrounding a culvert at Bombay Hook NWR, DE in late September. Used Canon 60D with 100-400 IS lens. Minimal processing - slight cropping and sharpening. Thank you for any comments/suggestions.

Comments

9 comments
Comment posted by John Tobias on October 23, 2013 at 8:50 PM
Nice arrangement of the 3 birds. I do think there needs to be more detail in the white feathers of all 3. Thanks for sharing.
Registered on September 12, 2009, 2120 Posts, 6455 Comments
Comment posted by Keith Bauer on October 24, 2013 at 10:19 AM
Bob:
I like the position and arrangement of the 3 birds. Unfortunately, the exposure on them is not holding detail in the whites like it should. I don't know if you shot this in RAW and can recover the details or not.

You didn't specify what aperture this was taken at. I ask because the Bokeh in the background is pretty odd and distracting on the image. I haven't seen this issue using the 100-400.
Registered on November 20, 2003, 458 Posts, 4836 Comments
Comment posted by Bob Ampula on October 24, 2013 at 12:56 PM
Thanks for the feedback. Exactly what I am looking for. The image was shot in JPEG at 5.6 on automatic but processed in RAW afterword. I have always had a problem bringing out the detail in whites. Appreciate any suggestions on how to approach my challenge.
Registered on September 29, 2008, 68 Posts, 47 Comments
Comment posted by Bob Ampula on October 24, 2013 at 12:57 PM
BTW - don't know what "Bokeh" is.
Registered on September 29, 2008, 68 Posts, 47 Comments
Comment posted by Keith Bauer on October 24, 2013 at 4:15 PM
BTW - don't know what "Bokeh" is.

Bokeh describes the appearance, of out-of-focus areas. Bokeh is not how far something is out-of-focus, bokeh is the character of whatever blur is there. The origin of the word is Japanese.
Registered on November 20, 2003, 458 Posts, 4836 Comments
Comment posted by Richard Ditch on October 24, 2013 at 4:58 PM
I have always had a problem bringing out the detail in whites. Appreciate any suggestions on how to approach my challenge.


Some suggestions on dealing with white birds in the future:

- shot in raw, not jpeg
- turn on "blinky highlights" if possible for the camera LCD and apply negative compensation if test shots show blown highlights
- avoid mid day light
- avoid contrasty light
- shoot as often as possible at dawn or dusk when the light is softer
- look for soft directional light falling on feathers - you need some shadows cast from one feather to another to separate them
Registered on November 1, 2003, 1031 Posts, 12705 Comments
Comment posted by Bob Ampula on October 24, 2013 at 5:05 PM
BTW - don't know what "Bokeh" is.
Registered on September 29, 2008, 68 Posts, 47 Comments
Comment posted by Bob Ampula on October 24, 2013 at 5:07 PM
Many thanks for the advice and education. Will try those suggestions in the future but not sure how to address the "Bokeh".
Registered on September 29, 2008, 68 Posts, 47 Comments
Comment posted by Bob Ampula on October 24, 2013 at 7:31 PM
Many thanks for the advice and education. Will try those suggestions in the future but not sure how to address the "Bokeh".
Registered on September 29, 2008, 68 Posts, 47 Comments