A few shots from Hagerman Wildlife Refuge, Texas

[terrib]

Spent an afternoon at Hagerman Wildlife Refuge near Sherman, TX and got these shots. All were taken handheld out the open car window. I was sometimes able to rest the lens on the window, sometimes not.

Any comments, edits or suggestions (especially using Lightroom) are most welcome.

#1 Not sure what kind of duck this is.



#2 Great Blue Heron. I didn't quite nail the focus on the head. Auto Focus through all the grass was iffy so I was manually tweaking the focus but he was moving and I was handholding. Excuses, excuses...



#3 Nine Banded Armadillo (official State mammal of Texas )



#4 Very proud of this one. I did have to take it back to Aperture to clone an out of focus twig that was sticking into the frame below the bird because I just couldn't get it in Lightroom. I find the Aperture cloning brush to be much more versatile but need to find a tutorial on the Lightroom brush. Maybe I'm just not using it right.

[jprzybyla]

Good work Terri, lovely images. The American Kestral is beautiful, I have yet to get a image as good as that one. I did a quick edit to show a couple things I would have done differently. The image is posted below so you can see. In Lightroom I lightened the blue of the sky using the Luminance slider in Hue, Saturation and Luminance. In the Basic Panel of the Develop module I opened the shadows a touch. I trust you do not mind my edit, if so I will remove it.

[Bobobird]

Wonderful outing it must have been.

#1 should be a coot. Kestrel shot is best I have seen for a long while. Joe's edit brings out the "missing" bits.

A close up of the armadillo would have been awesome.

As for the GBH, nice shot but typically difficult to get them in a "clean" environment. But in this case the upright plants do make the pic pretty "artsy". Might even be a great candidate for a b/w. Nice.

[kdoc856]

"I find the Aperture cloning brush to be much more versatile but need to find a tutorial on the Lightroom brush. Maybe I'm just not using it right. "

Terri,

My favorite set of LR tutorials ever, by George Jardine. It's a 13 part DVD, beautifully explained and demonstrated. Well worth it modest price on Amazon: The Develop Module

PS The kestrel shot should be in your portfolio

[davidedric]

My favorite set of LR tutorials ever, by George Jardine. It's a 13 part DVD, beautifully explained and demonstrated. Well worth it modest price on Amazon: The Develop Module

Kevin has recommended these several times, and I've been very frustrated because they don't seem to be available in the UK, and I don't really want to pay the US to UK shipping costs.

One I followed through properly to George's web site (duh!) I find that they are available as on-line tutorials, and for less than the Amazon price: they are $24.95. Anyway, I've decided to give them a go. I'll post this info on the PP forum.

Dave

[Geoff F]

I think I would crop the first 3 very slightly tighter, Terri.

#1 (Possibly a form of Coot) is rather central (vertically) with little of interest above it. So I suspect that a slight crop from the top and right side would concentrate the scene a little better. The water 'below' the bird has good ripples.

#2 Heron is looking a little 'lost' amongst the background so a slight crop of the top and right side would reduce the background.

#3 Armadillo is basically fine but there is a wide strip of out of focus grass at the bottom which serves no purpose and just adds distraction. So a little crop from the bottom and left side.

#4 is perfect. I suppose you could just about force it into a 5 x 4 ratio crop if you had to create a 'standard size print' but otherwise, I would leave it as it is now.

[terrib]

Good work Terri, lovely images. The American Kestral is beautiful, I have yet to get a image as good as that one. I did a quick edit to show a couple things I would have done differently. The image is posted below so you can see. In Lightroom I lightened the blue of the sky using the Luminance slider in Hue, Saturation and Luminance. In the Basic Panel of the Develop module I opened the shadows a touch. I trust you do not mind my edit, if so I will remove it.

Thank you Joe for taking the time to show your suggested edits. Funny how being so happy to get the Kestrel in good position and sharp totally blinded me to the underexposure. Here's my edit based on your suggestions. I did exactly what you said, except brought up overall shadows a little less and used the brush to paint in the shadow adjustment on the back, tail and the tree. After looking at a couple online vids, I also attempted the cloning with Lightroom. (Still think Aperture is much easier on that particular tool)

[terrib]

Wonderful outing it must have been.

#1 should be a coot. Kestrel shot is best I have seen for a long while. Joe's edit brings out the "missing" bits.

A close up of the armadillo would have been awesome.

As for the GBH, nice shot but typically difficult to get them in a "clean" environment. But in this case the upright plants do make the pic pretty "artsy". Might even be a great candidate for a b/w. Nice.

Thanks, Bobo, for the compliments and the ID on the duck. I also saw that heron pic as a possible artsy print. Might try out some painterly edits or something.

[terrib]

Thanks Kevin and David. I will definitely look up those tutorials. I did find the ones at Adobe TV by Julianne Kost pretty good - as far as they went.

[terrib]

Thanks Geoff for the feedback. Here are a couple of crops based on your suggestions. Also takes care of Bobo's request for a closer view of the armadillo - sort of.

[terrib]

Wonderful outing it must have been.

#1 should be a coot.

Just looked up Coot and the info says it is not a duck. That would explain why I couldn't find it under "ducks" in my Audobon App. Wonder how many other birds I've been trying to find under ducks that aren't.....

[Dave Humphries]

Hi Terri,

That is an American Coot in #1, as Bobo and Geoff suggest. The UK ones are very common here, although I have shot them many times, it looks like the only published shot I have is rather over exposed, unlike yours.

I prefer your second edit (big one in post #7) of the beautiful Kestrel, a shot to be proud of and no mistake.

Well done,

[jprzybyla]

Good job on your edit of the Kestrel. Regarding the healing/clone brush in Lightroom I only use it to clean up dust bunnies, any serious healing or cloning I go to Photoshop and the brushes there. So much more control.

[Mike Buckley]

Great kestrel, Terri!

[Shadowman]

Very nice.

[Steve S]

Great job terri, the kestrel is awesome!!!! Well done on all!!

[terrib]

Hi Terri,

That is an American Coot in #1, as Bobo and Geoff suggest. The UK ones are very common here, although I have shot them many times, it looks like the only published shot I have is rather over exposed, unlike yours.

I prefer your second edit (big one in post #7) of the beautiful Kestrel, a shot to be proud of and no mistake.

Well done,

Thanks, Dave for your comments and including the information on the UK Coot. I like that your Coot image shows the funny looking feet.

[terrib]

Mike, John and Steve - I appreciate you taking the time to comment! It helps keep me motivated to improve and get the good ones.

[Aforns]

The first is a cool for certain !! Nice getting detail on the eye and good plumage colors. Sure had nice light for this bird. Like the heron in its environment and like the looking away into the frame !

Good detail on the armadillo .. they remind me of road bumps

Like how Joe lighten the left side of the bird, light coming from the right ... do like the original colors and contrast of the original post !!

[jeeperman]

Great job, Terri! The Kestrel is very nice. If you ever have ID questions, you can always ask. There are several of us here that can likely steer you in the right direction at least.