KevinFRK

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KevinFRK,

While just using an exposure/brightness slider to lighten up the shot probably won’t work, if you’ve access to a “Levels” tool or a set of sliders labelled “Shadows/Midtones/Highlights” or similar, I suspect you might be surprised how much green you can get from the background without blowing out the whites on the car. This is best done if you’ve a RAW format version to play with, but even experimenting on a downloaded version of your photo this approach, to me, improves it.

There again, I know sometimes a little voice in the back of my head says “Leave it dark, I like it like that” and perhaps you are hearing the same with this shot.

KevinFRK,

Where in the world does that come from? And that’s a nicely timed photo!

KevinFRK,

Ah, I meant which country was it taken in - I’m from the UK, and I don’t recognise the bird: most like one of our moorhens I supoose.

KevinFRK,

Nah, I’m the one that got away :)

KevinFRK,

Ummm, doesn;'t seem to be a link or embedded image?

KevinFRK,

Well it makes an impact by being disorienting (and going B&W adds to that), so that’s good, but it hardly seems an approach that you can repeat and expect to keep making an impact.

So, well done, but what next?

KevinFRK,

Ask and you may even receive - to my eyes these are not as good - a little less sharp, etc. This was from a burst of photos, https://lemmy.world/pictrs/image/24f89d6d-1d99-4445-9bf5-4e43b0dc0f0a.jpeg

https://lemmy.world/pictrs/image/fb55d554-ee88-4c8e-bd54-108bc32a6a89.jpeg

KevinFRK,

They are migratory birds, so do check what time of year they are common in your state. Flocks of them haven’t been common here (Reading, UK) until the past month or so.

KevinFRK,

Well, they are egg thieves and omen birds (“One for sorrow, two for joy,…”) which probably doesn’t help their reputation!

Warbler, Berkshire UK (lemmy.world)

I think this is either a Wood or Willow Warbler (with, I think, too much yellow to be a Chiffchaff), photographed today in Prospect Park, Reading on the edge of the small wood in the park. Anyone better at bird ID would be welcome to chip in. I’ve a more boring pose but without the shadow across the eye if that would help....

KevinFRK,

That there needs to be two exposures to get both cloud and moon (nice sharp shot incidentally) with detail I know from experience, though I’ve not actually tried composing them. But would I be right in thinking the exposure with the moon’s detail was taken when the face was clear of cloud?

KevinFRK,

https://lemmy.world/pictrs/image/d7d7fee4-331f-4582-8d6c-8ac4f20041fd.jpegLet’s see if this works This is the JPG from Canon’s DPP4, so still noise removal but nothing like as directed. The improvement is not that obvious until you zoom in, but moves the photo from ho-hum to just about shareable.

KevinFRK,

Normally I’d agree on the lighting, but this actually matches my memory of taking the shot, under quite a bit of tree cover on a cloudy day, and I am also sometimes a bit of a sucker for the overly dark photo.

Topaz AI is very erratic, but as here, can do a good job.

KevinFRK,

Since you asked for critique, how aware are you of all the composition choices you’ve made in the first photo. By moving towards or away from the fence, or left and right, crouching or standing, and cropping, you could rearrange the balance of foreground shadow, field and sky, the extent to which the fence posts cover the field, and the closeness of the posts (horizontally) to the sun.

Now I think you’ve made excellent choices - the nearest to a quibble is that the left fence post strikes me as a little close horizontally to the sun - and I really like that you’ve got some leaves coming in at the top. But my question is, did you make those choices consciously - in which case well done - or subconsciously, in which case perhaps think more about composition (but do listen to your instincts, they appear good!).

KevinFRK,

Interesting and pleasing effects. How are you achieving it? My guess would be two main layers (photo and pattern) and some clever interactions with blurred versions of the main photo and the pattern?

To me it seems likely you were careful in choosing the angle of the pattern - I assume your technique can cope with rotating said pattern for a main photo calling for it.

KevinFRK,

That looks good (and well worth following the Deviant Art link to see a higher resolution). What did you use to take it? I’m guessing quite a long exposure, in particular (I can see star trails if I pixel peep). Any significant post-processing?

KevinFRK,

Nice shot, but seems a little dark. Were you by any chance trying to deal with some over-exposed white in post processing (I know that’s what would happen to me for this sort of shot!)? You might find playing with the levels/histogram tools, or even just shadows sliders gives a better result while keeping the bird from just being a white blob.

KevinFRK,

I like that vertically you have stacked people and green leaves above the slab, and rather bleak sand with dead leaves below in roughly equal proportions to the concrete slab: it suits the theme of the art/graffiti and its medium. I am wondering whether the right hand side could be cropped in a bit as it doesn’t so much add to the theme (but perhaps you are following a rule of thirds thing).

KevinFRK,

Very satisfying. Was the green so strong in the original, or did you just realise it would make an impact?

KevinFRK,

Hard to see how to improve on that (apart from more pixels :) ).

Along with the obvious leading lines, I rather like the way the top and bottom are pretty empty, but it gets more crowded (and two nicely paired trains) as you reach the centre of the photo.

KevinFRK,

If you took a RAW format version of that, did you try recovering the over-exposed white, in a histogram or levels tool? You can’t work miracles, but if the white is only a little over-exposed you might get somewhere.

Over-exposing white birds (is this an egret?) is of course something that just happens unless you know a few minutes in advance your next subject is white! Better to get the action shot than no shot at all. But if your lens has a ring set up for exposure compensation, do use it if you get the chance.

Stronger blur removal in a third party tool might also help (e.g. Topaz AI) - but is very hit and miss.

KevinFRK,

Might I suggest either simply darkening the photo or in a levels/histogram tool moving the centre point to the right? This rather nice photo is a little spoiled by looking a bit washed out to me.

KevinFRK,

I for one would be happy to read more such stories. Alas, my own experiences don’t really lend themselves to extended writeups - more just the slightly stunned “That’s not a thrush/blue tit/sparrow/pigeon/whatever!” moments when I realised I’m seeing something rather special rather close (wheatears, firecrests, goldcrests, etc.).

KevinFRK,

I’m glad to bring back good memories: it remains pretty good for birds as long as you aren’t hoping for the seriously rare (and in particular, not birds too put off by dog walkers!).

KevinFRK,

I’m curious as to why you chose this photo to post. Personally, I’d have waited or arranged for the bird to be facing me, or ideally, facing a bit past my left or right shoulder, and then I’d have crouched down to its level for a shot. Bonus points if the sun is behind you when you take the shot. Most mallards I encounter are near tame, so I’d also have tried to get closer for a sharper result if this is the result of cropping or digital zoom.

KevinFRK,

Nice shot anyway - but you might like the result of editing that in a tool with a “Levels” or “Histogram” feature, and pulling the centre point to the right (preferably the RAW version) - I’ve found it a good way of dealing with photos that look slightly faded or washed out. Slightly different effect to playing with highlights/shadows sliders.

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