Advice please on this shot.... (post-processing)

[tarkan]

Hi,

Went to my local bird sanctuary today, very overcast day. Light was pretty poor and everything seemed lacking in colour.

Managed to grab this little guy busy feeding the young, it was handheld at 1/400 f5.6 with a focal length of 400mm. It is a little soft (being handheld) and it was taken in RAW, no in-camera sharpening, adobe profile, ISO 400.

No I am really stuck - I just not happy about the bird, just no punch, flat looking.

I messed about by adjusting the grass - but could not settle on anything to I liked - I did change the saturation and lightness of the grass which helped a little but the bird still lacked something.

Anyone give me some ideas on how they would approach this. the file attached is slightly cropped and resized for the web - and nothing else done to it.



regards,
Tarkan

--
A Nikon D70 Owner

 

[Iliah Borg]

try http://www.pochtar.com/rspb1.alv for the start...
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[R Laing]

In USM try a value of 40 60 0

 

[Iliah Borg]

In USM try a value of 40 60 0

IMHO exposure correction and WB first
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[Raydar]

I just had a quick play with it before I have to go out.
It could be better given a little bit more time.

I done a bit of layering here & there a little blurring & finished off with high pass sharpening.
See what you think??? If you don’t like, disregard my attempt



Cheers
Ray

 

[Kerry Pierce]

try http://www.pochtar.com/rspb1.alv for the start...

What is this and how is it used? I've not seen that exension before, Iliah.

--
my gallery of so-so photos
http://www.pbase.com/kerrypierce/root
or mostly Nikon d-70 shots
http://www.pbase.com/kerrypierce/d70

 

[Iliah Borg]

Download it, open Levels dialog in PS (Alt-L), choose Load from that dialog and point to this file on your computer Then browse with Ctrl-1, Ctrl-2, Ctrl-3, Ctrl-0 - you will see the adjustments I suggest for the starting point.
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[Iliah Borg]

Download it, open Levels dialog in PS (Alt-L),

Ctrl-L, of course, typo
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[Spalding12]

those seem like UNusual settings.. no?

greg

 

[MegaPixel]

I hope you don't mind my taking the liberty of adjusting the picture myself, here is another version after running it through the "One step fix" in Paint Shop Pro 8. It took about 2 seconds to change it.

I'm sure that with more time to work on it it would look much better.

--
http://www.pbase.com/megap

Mike

 

[Iliah Borg]

those seem like UNusual settings.. no?

No, they are not, but a bit on an extreme side. Useful for flat pictures, foggy backgrounds/scenes. 20 30 0 are more moderate and used more often. Shadow/Highlights tool is heavily based on this kind of USM.

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[MegaPixel]

--
http://www.pbase.com/megap

Mike

 

[Kerry Pierce]

Download it, open Levels dialog in PS (Alt-L), choose Load from
that dialog and point to this file on your computer Then browse
with Ctrl-1, Ctrl-2, Ctrl-3, Ctrl-0 - you will see the adjustments
I suggest for the starting point.

Is that a general starting point, or just for this photo?

thanks.
--
my gallery of so-so photos
http://www.pbase.com/kerrypierce/root
or mostly Nikon d-70 shots
http://www.pbase.com/kerrypierce/d70

 

[R Laing]

ONLY USM 40 60 0

 

[Iliah Borg]

Is that a general starting point, or just for this photo?

It is for this particular photo. see how waisted levels are trimmed.

Also, convert to sRGB or generic monitor profile before publishing to web
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[Iliah Borg]

ONLY USM 40 60 0

right. But a bit "digital looking" IMHO.

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no text

 

[R Laing]

Does not look to extreme on my end. I find these setting good for mid day light. But I don't think there is any set of numbers right for all situations.

 

[JohnInSJ]

Hi

I'm addicted to The Gimp. Here's a walkthru that seems to work

Original



1) fix colors/levels

1a) tighten up black and white points in levels - note moved in white and black ^ until they are in the main body of the histogram



Result



Better but a bit green - adjust the green curve to tone it down a bit



- note just pulled it down a tad to clip the green peak
Result



Looking pretty good, but the bird isn't sharp - the grass is plenty sharp
2) layer time
2a) dupliate the layer (didn't take a screen shot - sorry)
2b) in the top layer, add a layer mask, white (Full Opacity)
2c) paint with black color over the bird - should get something like this



2d) Apply Unsharp Mask to the first layer, something like this



2e) flatten layers, save final result



Good, natural colors, sharp bird, natural looking grass.
It took less time to do this than it took to make this post (10 minutes or so)

Better?

 

[Spalding12]

i appreciate that info
thanks

greg

 

[tarkan]

I did try Auto-levels which on comparison is very close to your levels file, I found it slightly too bright - I tried out the local contrast trick I really liked the effect that had. I noticed that both the levels and local contrast had an impact on the green cast, more so with the local contrast. Also both cannot be applied at the same time the effect seems a bit harsh.

I honestly did not even notice the green cast till Mike (megapixel) pointed it out in his post (sometimes it pays to give it a rest and come back and look at it again).

I think the local contrast is the way forward, now the bird needs to be cleaned up. maybe more contrast or brightness reduced - and some final sharpening.

thanks,
Tarkan

try http://www.pochtar.com/rspb1.alv for the start...
--
no text

--
A Nikon D70 Owner