Not sure what to do with this

[GeorgeM]

I like the bird, but the snow is kinda lousy. How does one deal with the snow? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Nikon D90, Sigma 70-300mm f/4-5.6, f/5.6, 1/1000, ISO 400

junco_DSC8083 by gmontjr, on Flickr

[Dave Humphries]

Hi George,

What is your issue with the snow?

As shown/PP'd?, it looks a tad over exposed, so you may have lost some detail there.

What would I do with this?
Reduce the exposure a tad
I would clone out the green fibre (lower left) and any significant seed husks on the edges of frame (bottom and right).
I would try to get a little tonal/edge separation between the chest and the snow behind.

It is a nice sharp capture though - I would guess shot below a feeder

HTH,

[Wavelength]

A bit over, may be; yet so cute

[jamn4ex]

I think the bird is a Dark-eyed Junco (slate colored) they tend to be darker down here in Tn. So I believe following Daves' plan to decrease exposure would work well. Nice shot, I have had trouble exposing them in the snow, if I can find anything I think would help I will post on this thread .

[GeorgeM]

I have the raw file, so I'll try your suggestions, everybody.
The bird was on our patio table that was sprinkled with black oil sunflower seeds.
Dave, that green fibre is actually a seed husk. Would that be an example of chromatic aberration? It is an inexpensive lens, about $200USD.

[Dave Humphries]

Dave, that green fibre is actually a seed husk. Would that be an example of chromatic aberration? It is an inexpensive lens, about $200USD.

Ah, yes, now you mention it, I can see it in the feet too.

That's what can happen when the width of CA = the width of a picture element.

[jamn4ex]

Here is one I shot about 3 weeks ago, I think I had softer light due to clouds. I processed in lr4 all I really did was use adjustment brush and brushed a little more exposure on the bird. very selectively.

[GeorgeM]

This seems somewhat better


junco_DSC8083 copy by gmontjr, on Flickr

[Stagecoach]

George,

I do not know what PP software you use but I put the image into PS Elements and just used the 'Shadow/Highlights' tool to 'Darken the Highlights' (snow). I could achieve a greater degree of separation of the bird from the snow than your modified image. In addition I was able to boost the contrast of the bird and add a bit of sharpening although only working on the low res file.

Grahame

[ajohnw]

I flattened the brightness as my package calls it - it extends the histogram by reducing bright and boosting dark, gaps appear in shots like this but there is a debanding slider. That looses contrast so it's restored with tone mapping mostly on low and mid tones. Then a tiny curves adjustment to bring up the white breast a little more and get the lighting back as it was. Never seen the bird so the tone mapping may be a bit OTT.



John
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[ajohnw]

I flattened the brightness as my package calls it - it extends the histogram by reducing bright and boosting dark, gaps appear in shots like this but there is a debanding slider. That looses contrast so it's restored with tone mapping mostly on low and mid tones. Then a tiny curves adjustment to bring up the white breast a little more and get the lighting back as it was. Never seen the bird so the tone mapping may be a bit OTT.



John
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Are well. I thought that it was interesting that a process that starts off in a way that makes things worse can finish up making them better.

John
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[GeorgeM]

George,

I do not know what PP software you use but I put the image into PS Elements and just used the 'Shadow/Highlights' tool to 'Darken the Highlights' (snow). I could achieve a greater degree of separation of the bird from the snow than your modified image. In addition I was able to boost the contrast of the bird and add a bit of sharpening although only working on the low res file.

Grahame

Grahame,

I use PSE8 with the Topaz5 Adjust and Topaz Clarity plugins. I was using the Clarity>Feather and Fur preset because I liked what it did with the junco (bird). I was really ambivalent regarding the snow because it really is very bright and I feel that I should keep to the original scene as much as possible.
I have to admit that I really don't know what I'm doing when it comes to PP.

[GeorgeM]

I flattened the brightness as my package calls it - it extends the histogram by reducing bright and boosting dark, gaps appear in shots like this but there is a debanding slider. That looses contrast so it's restored with tone mapping mostly on low and mid tones. Then a tiny curves adjustment to bring up the white breast a little more and get the lighting back as it was. Never seen the bird so the tone mapping may be a bit OTT.



John
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Thank you for your input, John. It is very good of you to take the time.

[GeorgeM]

Here is one I shot about 3 weeks ago, I think I had softer light due to clouds. I processed in lr4 all I really did was use adjustment brush and brushed a little more exposure on the bird. very selectively.

Thanks, James! Your picture is quite nice. The lighting is not harsh as opposed to mine.

[GeorgeM]

How's this?


junco_DSC8083 copy by gmontjr, on Flickr

[FrankMi]

How's this?


junco_DSC8083 copy by gmontjr, on Flickr

Quite smart I'd say! Nice improvement George!

[Stagecoach]

How's this?


junco_DSC8083 copy by gmontjr, on Flickr

Now that's a difference and improvement.

Grahame

[GeorgeM]

Thanks for your input, Frank and Grahame.