Belted Kingfisher/redo

Gallery: AvianPosted May 6, 2017296 views5 comments

Lake Apopka Wildlife Drive
3/24/2017 – 10:09:45 AM
Canon EOS 7D EF400mm f/5.6L USM
1/1600 sec; f/7.1; ISO 320
Manual; Evaluative metering
LR5, PS6, Topaz DeNoise on background, Burned the whitest parts of the bird 20% to 30%, no sharpening, 80% of full frame

I've had this since March. I don't think I ever posted it, but I've thought about about whether to post it. This kingfisher was a lot closer than the first one I posted from Lake Apopka Wildlife Drive. This one was actually by the side of the road, and I was surprised that I saw it and stopped in time and got my camera ready before he flew away. I know it's not my lifetime image of a Belted Kingfisher that I'm looking for, but I'd like to know what you think about how it looks with no sharpening or any other thoughts you have.

Any feedback would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

Comments

5 comments

Comment posted by Allen Brooks on May 6, 2017 at 10:55 AM

The detail looks pretty good without sharpening. As an aside, have you tried the high pass filter in PS for sharpening? I like how the branches frame the bird. You might consider a tighter crop and see if that works.

Registered on July 27, 2011, 262 Posts, 2597 Comments

Comment posted by Bill Kellermeyer on May 6, 2017 at 12:34 PM

I agree a tighter crop would be nice.IMO This is a very nice image of a bird that is hard to capture.

Registered on March 19, 2013, 52 Posts, 161 Comments

Comment posted by Kurt Bowman on May 6, 2017 at 8:13 PM

I like this Barbara, not sure why you labored over posting it? While the image is sharp out of camera, I still think you should add some sharpness, especially for web presentation. If 80% of FF, I might try a tighter crop. I think you are pretty safe these days cropping up to 50% of FF and depending on the image even 40%. I normally don't go beyond that. I might also bring up the darks and shadows a bit. Easy thing to do in Lightroom.

Registered on June 19, 2008, 1005 Posts, 8028 Comments

Comment posted by Dennis Plank on May 6, 2017 at 10:03 PM

Nice, Barbara. It's really hard to get close to these and you caught a good pose with the light at a good angle. I'm not seeing much detail in the whites, but that could well be the wet plumage. I agree with Kurt that you could go with a tighter crop here. Well done.

Registered on January 28, 2008, 1767 Posts, 23192 Comments

Comment posted by Barbara Graham on May 7, 2017 at 10:19 AM

Here is a crop to 54% of full frame. I really like it better the way the branch came up from the bottom in the first version, but there's really no way to have that happen with a larger crop. I added sharpening with Smart Sharpen and I brought up the darks and shadows a bit. Allen, I've not heard before about trying the high pass filter for sharpening. I'll check that out. Dennis, I think I might have missed on the whites, though the plumage was wet. I may have gotten a little more detail in this redo, or not. Do you all like this one better?

Registered on July 27, 2010, 1310 Posts, 5035 Comments