What can I do to.... (1 Viewer)

I think the colours are great on this starling. However I would like to know how to deal with the dappled shade. The birds head is in direct sunlight and it needs toning down.

ExposureTime : 1/80Sec
FNumber : F3.7
ExposureProgram : Shutter Priority
ISOSpeedRatings : 100

Advice gratefully received!

Hi Helen, I don’t know why your post has been ignored, for me I was waiting for a photo expert to help, (this post should bring it back to the fore,).
IMHO, I would bin the pic, like you I love the colors of the Starling, but the only way I think you can save the photo is to you use the dodge / burn tool to darken the high lighted area.
Regards Glyn
BTW sat back ready to be flamed

The cropping looks good Glyn, though I'd take a shade more off behind the bird. I'm not so sure about the dodge and burn. In burnt out highlight areas if there is no detail to start with you can't put it in - or can you ?

I'm not too skillfull at this but I'd be inclined to use the clone tool to add some detail from the rear of the head to the front - it's one of those big advantages of digital photography. A two seconds result.

Additionally you could use the magic wand tool around the bird, select the background and reduce brightness/contrast so emphasising the bird itself - though I haven't done that here.

"I'm not too skillful”

Ian. I think you’ve done an excellent job and you’re absolutely right, if there’s no information then you can’t Dodge or Burn,
Your cloning looks great, but morally is it acceptable to change a bird?
Regards Glyn

Pops_uk said:

"I'm not too skillful”

Ian. I think you’ve done an excellent job and you’re absolutely right, if there’s no information then you can’t Dodge or Burn,
Your cloning looks great, but morally is it acceptable to change a bird?
Regards Glyn

Click to expand...

Blown out highlights are a regular problem with digital cameras, it can be a case of looking at a bird and realising you're going to have trouble ahead with this and wait for a better opportunity. It's often better to under-expose the shot, then recover things in photoshop. If you do have a contrast control built-in to your camera, maybe lower this when confronted by this situation.

Excellent job, Ian. That would be my choice in way of a repair, cloning from a good area.

As for the morality of work like this...if it's for personal use, hey...put horns on it if you like, just as long as you're happy with the result. If you are going to display the image to the general public, yep you should tell the public when you touch the subject with the clone tool.

regards,
Andy

Hi, Ian thanks for the tips, probably over done the contrast thing but as you said it does highlight the starling (your excellent cloning by the way)
Many Thanks Glyn

Great stuff. Many thanks to you all.

I think what I have learned here is that I should err on under exposing rather than over exposing. As I have mentioned before, a lot of my pics will be in this area - under tree, dappled shade, sun behind trees etc, so I guess it isn't the easiest place to learn!

I have ordered PS Elements 2, should receive it within a couple of weeks.

The photos I place on this thread have had nothing done to them apart from some cropping.

Thanks again to you all, although I was becoming a little concerned that it had taken so long for someone to reply, I thought I had done something wrong!

Cheers
H