Needing advuce
Sep 7, 2011 02:17:12 #
I would like to improve this picture. I shot this using a 55-200mm lens with f5.6, ISO 400 @1/250 sec. I was about 30 feet away and he was in the middle of the tree. The sun was high, directly behind him. I shot this in manual mode and I had to manually focus on him because the AF was focusing on everything but the bird. I also shot this in fine jpeg mode. I started in Lightroom 3. I set the clarity to 25 set the exposure and the fill light up a bit Basing my settings upon the histogram. I can not remember if I did any noise reduction. I then slammed it over to CS5 and did a high pass sharpening set at 2. I then enlarged it to what you see here and cropped it. He was kind of dinky when I started. What else did I need to do? Also, when I look at the metadata, it says that both the horizontal and vertical resolution is 300 dpi. What is this telling me? Is this good or bad?
Red Headed Woodpecker?
Sep 7, 2011 02:28:42 #
This is a pretty good photo to begin with, but I think you could make two improvements:
1. If you shoot RAW, it will allow you to enlarge slightly and gain some resolution. http://newschoolofphotography.com/content/134-printing-huge.html
2. A fill flash would really help with the lighting and details in this image, especially since you were only about 30 feet away.
1. If you shoot RAW, it will allow you to enlarge slightly and gain some resolution. http://newschoolofphotography.com/content/134-printing-huge.html
2. A fill flash would really help with the lighting and details in this image, especially since you were only about 30 feet away.
Sep 7, 2011 02:33:32 #
Yeah, I was going to mention that I know better and should have shot it in RAW. But, it started out as a jpeg and so... Anyway, I did not think to use the flash. But wouldn't that scare the bird away? By the way, I shot about a dozen or so pictures of him but they were either blurry or he was behind a branch; stuff like that.
Sep 7, 2011 08:03:35 #
Kenneth Pierce
Loc: Campbellsville, Kentucky
If you are looking to open the shadows a little, Photoshop CS5 has an excellent tool called Shadows/Highlights with adjustment sliders.
Sep 7, 2011 08:54:06 #
Great picture of a Downy Woodpecker. Those little guys flit around from branch to branch constantly, so you did well to get this nice, sharp photo in the instant he was still.
Sep 7, 2011 09:37:00 #
Since you have cs5 you can convert it to raw and back again.
You may know that though?
You may know that though?
Sep 7, 2011 13:22:33 #
Nice shot of the Downy woodpecker... the red tells you it's a male.
Try a vertical crop and see what you think.
Try a vertical crop and see what you think.
Sep 7, 2011 13:39:06 #
Sep 7, 2011 14:00:43 #
myts10
Loc: SE Ohio
The way I see it, he is looking out of the scene. The stuff on the left is a distraction and does nothing for the subject.
Go back and re crop. Take out half of the left side.
Go back and re crop. Take out half of the left side.
Sep 7, 2011 14:08:56 #
I think it is perfect the way it is. the branch the bird is on is a nice diadonal line, the bird is crisp and sharp, you used selective focus to blur the background. its great. change nothing :!:
Sep 7, 2011 14:24:02 #
Sep 7, 2011 14:30:16 #
kenb wrote:
In Bridge you can select your print and elect to open it in Raw format !
You can also use Photoshop to "Open As..." - but this does not make it a RAW file.
Sep 7, 2011 14:56:00 #
I do agree it is not a true raw file with all of the data but you can make many adjustments (with limitations)to your print.
The best if you have very good detail is shoot in Raw.
The best if you have very good detail is shoot in Raw.
Sep 7, 2011 15:27:14 #
I agree you can use open as in Photoshop but you cannot to anything to it no picture will come up .(maybe your version is not like mine)
Sep 7, 2011 15:48:23 #
kenb wrote:
I agree you can use open as in Photoshop but you cannot to anything to it no picture will come up .(maybe your version is not like mine)
I'm not here to start a pissing match. Yes, it works. No, this discussion does nothing to help the OP (other than providing distraction and confusion). Not trying to be a jerk here, sorry if that's how I come across.
Whether you use Photoshop or Bridge to open the image as a RAW, it is still a JPG. This allows you to apply some of the editing features normally reserved for RAW editing, but it does not change the data contained in the file... it's still a JPG with JPG compression.
Also, if you read the OP: The image was originally opened with Lightroom, which by default provides the exact same editing options for either RAW or JPG (and the exact same editing features used by Adobe Camera RAW when using Bridge or Photoshop).
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