coot in evening light

[marlunn]

took this yesterday at Cosmeston, the light was really nice by late afternoon, again looking for the feeling of the subject as a waterbird, a Coot, not attempting to capture behaviour or a ID shot, but a creature in its environment - in a minimalistic way. Not sure this succeeds but will continue to work on this.



C & C welcome as always

[NorthernFocus]

Hi, Mark. Nice idea. You tackled a challenge trying to make a coot look interesting. Not sure this particular image achieved the intended effect. IMO the water is either too flat, or not flat enough. Shots like this tend to work better if the water is really interesting or "invisible". In this case it is very plain but just disturbed enough to obscure the reflection. Then the bird didn't offer you an interesting pose either. Just a slight turn of the head would add a lot. And from a technical standpoint the shadowed side is so dark that the eye isn't visible. Makes things seem out of balance.

[marlunn]

Hi Dan, thanks appreciated, in a way your feedback vindicates what i was trying to achieve
the waters bland and not imposing on the overall image, the pose is bland and not quite the best, the overall bird is non distinct in any real way but has some features - the red eye and the white forehead to lift it out of nothing. Pretty much sums up a Coot to me

I can see what you are saying and normally would agree and look for images with 'more' of those areas developed but for this one I was trying to get a image that reflected the overall feeling of the subject

[Downrigger]

I was trying to get a image that reflected the overall feeling of the subject

You did. Good Coot.
A duck just sitting on the water is never going to make cover on Audubon, and Dan's critique is packed with useful pointers, but this is still... a Good Coot. It is sharp, well lit despite the heavy shadowing (unfortunately that great low-angle light only arrives from one direction), and I like the glint in the lit eye.

[marlunn]

Mark, Dan, Thanks, ongoing I will hopefully be able to apply the 'skill' to more dynamic subjects and build more of that into the image and create a more coheasive image of a subject that encapsulates the xxxx-ness of a subject if that makes sense !

[Nicks Pics]

It's a pretty good shot. IMO you are between trying to show the bird, in which case it should probably be bigger in the frame, and trying to show a wider scene, in which case it might be nice if you had a little more room on the left side to include the edge of the circle in the water around the coot, just to include the pattern of it.

[Geoff F]

Basic shot looks OK to me but at the moment it doesn't appear to be creating maximum impact.

Maybe a fraction more highlight brightness but selectively applied to avoid overdoing the lighter black area.

And have a think about slightly different crops so the image isn't divided horizontally into three almost equal bands.

[vaez]

nice capture and good reflex

[Shadowman]

Nice capture.

[IzzieK]

Oh Mark...the water is flat but the coot is a nice old coot...lacking in angle but it is the learning experience that matters. I hope I can say this to myself...

[mknittle]

When I saw Old Coot I expected a picture of me.
Nice shot though.

[marlunn]

Thanks Nick, Geoff, Vaez, John, Izzie, Mark.

Izzie, oooh that was your out loud voice of course you can. As you all say there are elements that are not 'good' in making it a top draw image, but that was kind of the point of the exercise - the poor old Coot is not a top draw bird, if it was a Great Crested Grebe, boy I would have tried to get sparkling water, a regal head angle and a max depth of colour to it

In this case i think the 'average' bland image matches the subject - but that is not to say the image in itself wont benefit from all the improvements and changes you have kindly directed. Indeed this has been a good learning shot. Thank you all.

[ashcroft]

Mark

It seems to be under-exposed to me. If you put the image in PShop and do CTRL-L to get levels it has a big gap on the right where the whites should be. Can you see that if you do the same? I'd post an edit, but I know some people don't like that.

[marlunn]

Rob, dont have Pshop - have Elements 11, not worried if you want to play with it - it fits my reasoning for what I was trying to achieve but please feel free to stretch it here and there and see what you get

[ashcroft]

Rob, dont have Pshop - have Elements 11, not worried if you want to play with it - it fits my reasoning for what I was trying to achieve but please feel free to stretch it here and there and see what you get

Elements should do it. I just raised the lights using Levels option. Second one shows the original with the histogram showing the lack of whites on the right. The first shows with the levels adjustment (and histogram). I also put on the rule-of-thirds grid to show a different crop with the birds head on the intersection. I might have lightened it a bit much, but you get the drift.

I know it was evening when shot, but you should still see more of a spread than you had on the histogram. Otherwise images will look flat. With a shot like this you want it more to the left (darker) but you still need more light on the right to give contrast in the shot.

I could be wrong of course

[Geoff F]

My quick edit, Mark, came out rather similar.



I took it into ACR for a little bit of a makeover then finished with a couple of slight Curves adjustments.

[ashcroft]

My quick edit, Mark, came out rather similar.



I took it into ACR for a little bit of a makeover then finished with a couple of slight Curves adjustments.

That looks better. Mine was brightened too much. Yours is about in the middle.

[Geoff F]

That is what I find about using Levels which can be rather 'coarse' for those more delicate adjustments.

Using Curves is a bit more 'fiddly' but you do have more overall fine control.

[marlunn]

sorry for delay in response been away in the 'smoke' working - thanks guys, nice edit
things to bear in mind in next image post processing - its all good learning