Nesting Swans

[Nancy Moran G]

Found a pair of swans sitting in their nest.
They are a dickens to photo because of their white color! I am only on a laptop, so hopefully these won't look toooo horrid.
Shot around 4 pm on a slightly overcast day, at a dark pond. Foliage is still dead.
I am trying to improve now, as I will want a "family" shot when the babies hatch :}

Improvements and critique helpful. Am only beginner on PSE 11.

1- Let's tidy up a bit here..


2- He fluffed himself up because of some geese encroaching his area.


3- I liked him in front the reddish bush reflected in water..


Overall, it's better for me than other attempts to not blow out the whites. Again, with only a laptop, my colors may be off base...let me know how bad it is.

thank you,
Nancy

[Kyle]

Great shots. I like the story they tell. You caught that iconic posture on 2 and 3. I think the colour in 2 is a bit off compared to the other two. Just looks to have a slightly more green tint to it. Not bad though. Overall, great photos!

[Dave Humphries]

~
Improvements and critique helpful. Am only beginner on PSE 11.
~
.. with only a laptop, my colors may be off base...let me know how bad it is.

Hi Nancy,

You shot these RAW (good), your software is PSE11 and ACR.

I notice that the white balance itself wasn't altered in Post Processing, remaining "As Shot", but that it was manually set in camera as follows;
#1: Kelvin 6000, Tint: +8
#2 and #3: 6600, Tint +10

Yet I agree with Kyle that #2 does look greener than the other two.

For consistency, I would suggest you decide which WB is best and apply the same Kelvin and Tint figures in ACR to all images in a published series, but be sure not to change the colours in PSE itself, or on other ACR tabs, unless you have a good set up to allow decent matching. I think you may have done this (tweaking greens and magentas), which explains the difference we see here.


I think there might be some clipping in the highlights of #2, I'm sure you could use the ACR Basic tab controls to recover some of this (I don't think you have from the EXIF).

I also noticed in #2 that the exposure was set Manual, but that exposure compensation (EC) was at -4 stops. You need to be careful, depending how your camera controls are configured, not to confuse making EC adjustments when in Manual, since this affects only the meter indication and not the exposure (unless you're in Auto-ISO) - I know this has caught me (on my D7100) a few times - I keep winding one of the control wheels (not looking at the number data in V/F), taking shots, thinking I am adjusting exposure (as it does on D5000), wondering why successive shots are just as over exposed as the first one on the histogram (doh!), then I use the correct wheel, or switch back to one of the semi-auto modes, so the EC control works as expected. It does depend on how the controls are configured and not using Auto-ISO. Perhaps that isn't what happened here, but I share my Faux Pas for the greater good.

Cheers,

[Shadowman]

Nice efforts.

[IzzieK]

Beautiful Nancy...I share Dave's comments. As I have said before, I have only seen A white swan so far in my life. These will look good and more better when you capture its babies too. Love your story and the shots that came with it.

[chauncey]

You can take Dave's comments to the bank...properly exposing white birds is somewhat of an art-form. In an ideal scenario (an overcast, steady light day) you can lock in the exposure in manual mode and shoot all day. But when you have the sun and clouds, all you can do is hope a lot, and adjust in ACR.

[Nancy Moran G]

Thank you all for your help and comments!
Dave, You may get a chuckle or roll your eyes at this next comment......OMG, I did not know half of what you posted!
Yes, I was using manual but did not know how that affected EC, and I do try to change WB for the right conditions,
But did not know I Had EVER changed Kelvin (?) or tint!
So much more to learn....ACR tabs for highlights??
Thank you,
Nancy

[Brownbear]

Hi Nancy,

I especially love the 3rd image for the composition. That red bush makes for a very nice environmental background. I also prefer the colours in this one. The reflection of the swan is beautiful, as are the reflection of the colours of the red bush in the water. I think I would crop a little bit of the water off of the bottom. I like this image a lot, and I think you should work on it a little bit more.

Aside... I think you have a Nikon camera too. Using Daylight white balance or auto wb warm (+1) works well for for me.

[Nancy Moran G]

Yes Christina, I have the Nikon 7000. I will try the WB you mentioned. Yesterday in New England was cloudy, rainy....again!
Today may be the start of a few sunny days, but 40's at night. Maybe the sun will spur the hatching?!
Nancy

[Brownbear]

And far too much rain where I am, too!

Yes Christina, I have the Nikon 7000. I will try the WB you mentioned. Yesterday in New England was cloudy, rainy....again!
Today may be the start of a few sunny days, but 40's at night. Maybe the sun will spur the hatching?!
Nancy

[bnnrcn]

Hi Nancy, #3 is my best too

[IzzieK]

Thank you all for your help and comments!
Dave, You may get a chuckle or roll your eyes at this next comment......OMG, I did not know half of what you posted!
Yes, I was using manual but did not know how that affected EC, and I do try to change WB for the right conditions,
But did not know I Had EVER changed Kelvin (?) or tint!
So much more to learn....ACR tabs for highlights??
Thank you,
Nancy

Hi Nancy...I was looking for a while if someone more knowledgeable will reply to your question here but since no one did yet, here are my contribution to your knowledge:

http://www.digitalcameraworld.com/20...y-cheat-sheet/

and the ultimate guide:

http://www.lifehack.org/articles/tec...ver-needs.html

'Hope this helps...

[Nancy Moran G]

Wow, thank you Izzie!