Swan (5-30-12)

[Digital]

Would welcome C&C on this photo. Thanks, Bruce




This one is cropped. Bruce

[gregj1763]

Hi Bruce,
A white swan on dark water is not an easy photo to capture without exposure problems.
These two shots seem under exposed but saying that it could blow out the white of the swan if you increase the exposure level too much.
Most pp software will have the ability to lighten shadows and darken whites. Give that a try and see if that improves the image.
A polarising filter might have helped in a situation like this as well.
Take all this advice with caution, I'm only a beginner at this myself. Others may give better help.
Cheers Greg

[Digital]

Any better?

[gregj1763]

Yes an improvement Bruce. The white of the swan does not appear as bright on my monitor at least.
Someone like Frank Miller would be a good person to ask for tips with this shot. He is a wiz with photoshop.
Cheers Greg

[Geoff F]

You are shooting into the light, Bruce, so you are bound to get some darker whites in the shadow areas. All you can realistically achieve is to make sure that the brightest areas aren't over exposed.

It is possible to brighten the darker whites with an adjustment layer and mask then carefully adjust the mask to selectively apply the result. But 'carefully' is the important word here, it is all too easy to mess up an otherwise decent shot with incorrect editing.

[Digital]

You are shooting into the light, Bruce, so you are bound to get some darker whites in the shadow areas. All you can realistically achieve is to make sure that the brightest areas aren't over exposed.

It is possible to brighten the darker whites with an adjustment layer and mask then carefully adjust the mask to selectively apply the result. But 'carefully' is the important word here, it is all too easy to mess up an otherwise decent shot with incorrect editing.

Geoff, thanks for your comments. This brought up a point that I have been thinking about for days: are we photographers or with our PP software graphic artists? I believe we are both. Bruce