Blown Highlights exercise

[randallfarhy]

<p>One of those danged if you do, danged if you don't situations. High contrast backlit lighting conditions, no time to locate and attach the polarizer. I've spent about an hour fiddling with this, and while it's the best I can come up with given my relative inexperience with software (elements9/ LR4), I'm not thrilled with it. I'm putting it out there for others to have some fun with-hopefully we can all learn a thing or two from the experience. <br>

Thanks in advance, Randall.</p><div></div>

[georg_s1]

<p>Randall, <br>

I for my part don't find mildly blown highlights in backlit-shots distracting.<br>

I like your shot,<br>

Georg.</p>

 

[howard_m]

<p>I'd certainly brighten the birds body a bit and get rid of the grey/blue cast</p>

[ed_v.]

<p>I like the shot as well. I'd like it a bit warmer and more saturated, also but my monitor here at work is not calibrated, so I can't criticize the photo for it. The only thing I might do is crop it differently, maybe leaving a little more room in front of the bird and placing it a little lower in the frame, but that's just me.</p>

[Ed_Ingold]

<p>Why would you want a polarizer? It would have no effect on the bird or background, and make the water look muddy.</p>

<p>If you have the raw file, you could adjust the exposure to restore a little detail in the top of the bird. It's not that much overexposed. However, once you commit it to a JPEG, there's nothing to be done. The white balance looks good, as viewed on a calibrated monitor.</p>

[wogears]

<p>Glad to have a whack at the RAW. </p>

<p>Les</p>

[tom_mann1]

<p>Hi Randall - I got your RAW file, and I can't get any detail out of the upper, sunlit part of the wing, either. It's completely blown. About the only thing one can do in a situation like this would be to steal some texture from other feathers and paint it in at very low opacity. However, to tell the truth, like others have said, that small area doesn't bother me. It's a great photo.</p>

<p>Cheers,</p>

<p>Tom M</p>

[randallfarhy]

<p>Thanks gang, appreciate the feedback.<br>

I will try a more saturated/warmer version when I get home.<br>

Initial processing was done with Topaz Denoise5 and Adjust5 followed with LR4 tweaks. The highlights were then pushed/pulled as far as they would go (with techniques I am familiar with) without creating false fill aqua/magenta hues. I will also try Tom M's approach.<br>

As for the polarizer- it would darken the water area, which may or may not have hurt the image, but the main reason for using one under these conditions is to reduce the effects of glare, in this case coming off the highlight's on the white bird, while also increasing saturation prior to capture. It would have given that area a bit more clarity and contrast. Difficult to explain without side by side comparisons, but it does help. (I have side by sides of race cars under similar conditions to show the effects if need be.) Of course, Saturation can be increased via software, it does come at the expense of sharpness as more is added. The clarity and vibrance sliders help too. Thanks for bearing with me, the software learning curve thus far has been steep, and I still have a lot to learn. </p>

[Tim_Lookingbill]

<p>Randall, the shot looks good as others have indicated. I shoot similar scenes and have learned and adjusted exposure to capture what is important to me from those type of scenes.</p>

<p>When you're shooting Raw you can under expose (expose to retain highlights) at the time of capture much more than you realize without getting a lot of noise in mids and shadows especially when shooting in brightly lit surroundings such as your example.</p>

<p>Just hunt around for similar birds that aren't flying and adjust exposure manually on them to retain similar highlights examining the camera's histogram and keep it there for shooting when they're flying. Your background may look black on the LCD but it's the bird that's the important subject and you'll be surprised how much you can brighten up the background using the Exposure, Recovery and Fill Slider in LR4 and other contrast controlling tools.</p><div></div>