andrew.haysom Loc: Melbourne, Australia

This photo of a kookaburra is not a great photo, but I post it as an example of how you can use HDR techniques to rescue a "usable photo" from a relatively poor shot out of the camera.

The original was only shot as a single exposure (my usual technique when birding), but I created a +1 and +2 out of the single RAW and processed in Photomatix "Default" preset with a few tweaks, then played a little in PSE including the obvious crop.

End result far from perfect (there is noise when viewed full size and I have some blown highlights in the top of the birds head), but still an example IMHO of rescuing a usable image from something that looked like a dead loss at first look.

What do you think?

Original SOOC


Processed version

LoneRangeFinder Loc: Left field

Nice "save"-- and I think it's a beautiful creature.

SoHillGuy Loc: Washington

I agree, Nice save. I am amazed that you were able to get as much detail in the Kookaburra's eye as you did. The noise is not that distracting as I would have imagined it could have been for the magnification. Perhaps utilizing a mask, and bringing out the detail from the original would take care of the blown out areas.

Photog8 Loc: Morriston, FL

Good capture...nice save. :-)

Samuraiz Loc: Central Florida

Very nice. I do not see noise but I do see a distracting blue halo around the bird and branches. If you Have light room , the remove CA function may work.