Thoughts on editing and nature's raw moments (Page 2): Thank you Jack!

rockdog Loc: Berkeley, Ca.

J-SPEIGHT wrote:

Nice captures.

Thank you Jack!

rockdog Loc: Berkeley, Ca.

tcthome wrote:

Thank you Tom, I appreciate your visit.
Phil

rockdog Loc: Berkeley, Ca.

AzPicLady wrote:

Good pics. Good post.

Thank you Kathy!

rockdog Loc: Berkeley, Ca.

jaredjacobson wrote:

I like what you’ve done removing the distracting branches here.

Thank you, I think that after cropping and exposure adjustment removing distracting elements offers the best opportunity to improve our wildlife photos. Adjusting and removing objects is one thing, adding elements, especially mayor components like sky or backgrounds is more accurately called a composite. I have done a lot of this with my old bird photos in the past year or so and I try always to say so in my posts.

joecichjr Loc: Chicago S. Suburbs, Illinois, USA

rockdog wrote:

First the warning, this photo has a graphic element that may be disturbing to some.

From the first days of this section, I have noticed three things; we have a bunch of bird photographers on UHH, some truly exemplary work has been posted here and we don’t talk to each other very much. Yes, we complement each other but there is very little discussion on field technique, post processing or any other aspect of our bird photography. I consider post processing to be a regular part of my digital photography workflow. I am very familiar with the “straight out of camera” philosophy and I respect straight documentary work, but I see good photos here that could be better with some basic editing. Digital editing tools are just too accessible and too easy to use to not be a part of our photography. I am not minimizing the learning curve, my path was and is slow with frequent stumbles, but it is a worthwhile journey, and the rewards can make significant improvements. My editing skills are very much a work in progress, but I am offering this example of basic editing in an attempt to encourage. The first shot is SOOC, complete with graphic element. The second shot is with a large crop to recompose and enlarge, and with some basic exposure adjustments. The third shot shows cleanup of foreground and background distractions with some additional exposure adjustment to the eagle’s head. Almost all my editing is done in PS Elements and the removal of unwanted elements was done with the spot healing brush and the clone stamp tool. The fourth shot has some additional adjustment using the dodge and burn tools and the replacement of a more somber sky to satisfy my aesthetics of the moment. I have done a lot of sky and background replacements with my bird photos, and I am aware that it may be a step too far for many, but the other adjustments are very much within the reach of all of us.
Regarding the graphic element warning. I have a lifelong interest in birds of prey, and I have been fortunate to have witnessed and photographed many moments when these birds are doing what they must do to make a living. I have also learned that these moments can make folks uncomfortable. I did not see those drops when I pushed the shutter button but to be honest, they represent a moment in photographic time that I have hoped to achieve since my adolescent dreams of being a nature photographer. Those drops verify correct shutter speed and a steady hand and they also depict a powerfully poignant everyday moment in nature.

First the warning, this photo has a graphic elemen... (show quote)

A magnificent documentation of how birds eat ⭐✨⭐✨⭐ and, IMHO, nothing offensive since this is regularly shown on the Nature channel and other such places - even Disney 🤔🤔🤔

rockdog Loc: Berkeley, Ca.

joecichjr wrote:

A magnificent documentation of how birds eat ⭐✨⭐✨⭐ and, IMHO, nothing offensive since this is regularly shown on the Nature channel and other such places - even Disney 🤔🤔🤔

Thanks for the visit and kind words Joe!

topcat Loc: Alameda, CA

Very nice, both the capture and the processing. That is probably the most important part of the photograph. Well, the initial capture is the most important, but the processing is important.

“The negative is comparable to the composer’s score and the print to its performance. Each performance differs in subtle ways.” – Ansel Adams

rockdog Loc: Berkeley, Ca.

topcat wrote:

Very nice, both the capture and the processing. That is probably the most important part of the photograph. Well, the initial capture is the most important, but the processing is important.

“The negative is comparable to the composer’s score and the print to its performance. Each performance differs in subtle ways.” – Ansel Adams

Thank you topcat. I just finished scanning more than 3.000 b&w 35mm negatives that I have not worked with in over 50 years. The Adams quote was never more appropriate. In my film days I loved the darkroom, and I am so pleased with what can be done with these film to digital files.
I have been enjoying your botanical posts.

topcat Loc: Alameda, CA

rockdog wrote:

Thank you topcat. I just finished scanning more than 3.000 b&w 35mm negatives that I have not worked with in over 50 years. The Adams quote was never more appropriate. In my film days I loved the darkroom, and I am so pleased with what can be done with these film to digital files.
I have been enjoying your botanical posts.

I have also started to scan some B&W negatives from a really long time ago. I have an old scanner that was only good for XP. I did something that allowed me to use it on my new computer. Somehow it stopped working on my computer. I have another old scanner that I can still use, but I am having problems getting good scans. Also, there are a lot of old negatives that I don't want to scan, so I am being particular about what I do scan.

Thank you

joecichjr Loc: Chicago S. Suburbs, Illinois, USA

rockdog wrote:

First the warning, this photo has a graphic element that may be disturbing to some.

From the first days of this section, I have noticed three things; we have a bunch of bird photographers on UHH, some truly exemplary work has been posted here and we don’t talk to each other very much. Yes, we complement each other but there is very little discussion on field technique, post processing or any other aspect of our bird photography. I consider post processing to be a regular part of my digital photography workflow. I am very familiar with the “straight out of camera” philosophy and I respect straight documentary work, but I see good photos here that could be better with some basic editing. Digital editing tools are just too accessible and too easy to use to not be a part of our photography. I am not minimizing the learning curve, my path was and is slow with frequent stumbles, but it is a worthwhile journey, and the rewards can make significant improvements. My editing skills are very much a work in progress, but I am offering this example of basic editing in an attempt to encourage. The first shot is SOOC, complete with graphic element. The second shot is with a large crop to recompose and enlarge, and with some basic exposure adjustments. The third shot shows cleanup of foreground and background distractions with some additional exposure adjustment to the eagle’s head. Almost all my editing is done in PS Elements and the removal of unwanted elements was done with the spot healing brush and the clone stamp tool. The fourth shot has some additional adjustment using the dodge and burn tools and the replacement of a more somber sky to satisfy my aesthetics of the moment. I have done a lot of sky and background replacements with my bird photos, and I am aware that it may be a step too far for many, but the other adjustments are very much within the reach of all of us.
Regarding the graphic element warning. I have a lifelong interest in birds of prey, and I have been fortunate to have witnessed and photographed many moments when these birds are doing what they must do to make a living. I have also learned that these moments can make folks uncomfortable. I did not see those drops when I pushed the shutter button but to be honest, they represent a moment in photographic time that I have hoped to achieve since my adolescent dreams of being a nature photographer. Those drops verify correct shutter speed and a steady hand and they also depict a powerfully poignant everyday moment in nature.

First the warning, this photo has a graphic elemen... (show quote)

Gorgeous and eye catching 🦅🦅🦅🦅🦅

rockdog Loc: Berkeley, Ca.

topcat wrote:

I have also started to scan some B&W negatives from a really long time ago. I have an old scanner that was only good for XP. I did something that allowed me to use it on my new computer. Somehow it stopped working on my computer. I have another old scanner that I can still use, but I am having problems getting good scans. Also, there are a lot of old negatives that I don't want to scan, so I am being particular about what I do scan.

Thank you

My old scanner also failed, and I did all the film and slides on a new Kodak Slide N Scan. I was very happy with the image quality and the physical process went smoothly. It is a very repetitive and physical task, but I decided to scan all the negatives to allow a better view of a positive image on a large monitor before culling. Memory is cheap and I had the time. Good luck and enjoy your project neighbor.
Phil

topcat Loc: Alameda, CA

Thank you. It seems that every time I scan some negatives, I get to work on them and they are not that good. I don't think that when I started I had these problems. I don't know if it is the scanner or the negatives. But ever onward...

rockdog Loc: Berkeley, Ca.

joecichjr wrote:

Gorgeous and eye catching 🦅🦅🦅🦅🦅

papaskeeters Loc: Davis, CA

Thanks for the info

rockdog Loc: Berkeley, Ca.

papaskeeters wrote:

Thanks for the info

Yor live in a great location for birding both up and down the Sacramento Valley. You are right in the middle of numerous stop overs for migratory waterfowl along the Pacific Flyway between Oct and Mar and the eagles know that!