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Stilts Acting Out

HarrybHarryb Registered Users, Retired Mod Posts: 22,708 Major grins
edited May 25, 2012 in Wildlife
Hi Y'all,

The black-necked stilt while a pain in the butt exposure is usually a rather sedate subject.

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normally the only action you get from them is the occasional flight capture
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but once a year they start acting randy
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Harry
http://behret.smugmug.com/ NANPA member
How many photographers does it take to change a light bulb? 50. One to change the bulb, and forty-nine to say, "I could have done that better!"

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    PGMPGM Registered Users Posts: 2,007 Major grins
    edited May 17, 2012
    Well, Harry, I see why they are named "Stilts." Those are some long legs. This is a great thread for showing proper exposure of black and white when you have both. Could you please explain how you approach exposure in this situation? (Quite a lot of smooching going on here, too!) Best, Pam
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    PGMPGM Registered Users Posts: 2,007 Major grins
    edited May 17, 2012
    Also, Harry, where is the Street & PJ Forum? Best, Pam
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    HarrybHarryb Registered Users, Retired Mod Posts: 22,708 Major grins
    edited May 17, 2012
    Hey Pam,

    The key here was the time of day which was between 7:35 and 8:15 AM. In harsh light the dynamic range woud have been too great. Then I had good light on them with the sun just about behind my back so I was able to to keep some of the shadow detail w/o too much of the highlights blowing. I used an exposure adjustment of -2/3rds of a stop. I wanted a higher shutter speed but I was shooting with the D300 with the 500mm f/4 lens and I don't like to shoot DX bodies at too high of an ISO.

    With stilts you wnat to get the red eye showing. W/o that eye the captures don't have the same impact so head angle was an important consideration. In the processing I did not try to bring out the shadow detail because with DX images that would introduce too much noise. Some of the highlights were slightly blown but I was usually able to address that with Nik's detail extrractor filter. I used that filter selectively on the highlights. I didn't use it on the darker areas because of noise considerations. On a couple of the images I had to use the clone tool for some blown out areas. Sharpening was applied selectively mainly to the highlight areas and eyes and not the shadow areas. NR was applied to the water but never on the subjects (the stilts).
    Harry
    http://behret.smugmug.com/ NANPA member
    How many photographers does it take to change a light bulb? 50. One to change the bulb, and forty-nine to say, "I could have done that better!"
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    HarrybHarryb Registered Users, Retired Mod Posts: 22,708 Major grins
    edited May 17, 2012
    PGM wrote: »
    Also, Harry, where is the Street & PJ Forum? Best, Pam

    Its now the Documentary forum which reinds me that I have to correct that in my signature.
    Harry
    http://behret.smugmug.com/ NANPA member
    How many photographers does it take to change a light bulb? 50. One to change the bulb, and forty-nine to say, "I could have done that better!"
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    tshaddicktshaddick Registered Users Posts: 185 Major grins
    edited May 17, 2012
    Great shots. I like the second and third one. Great job.
    www.wildelements.ca
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    jwearjwear Registered Users Posts: 8,006 Major grins
    edited May 17, 2012
    This is a great series and good education ,very good exposure but why the 300 when that 4 is at home ???
    Jeff W

    “PHOTOGRAPHY IS THE ‘JAZZ’ FOR THE EYES…”

    http://jwear.smugmug.com/
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    Brian_SBrian_S Registered Users Posts: 188 Major grins
    edited May 18, 2012
    great set of images Harry!
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    HarrybHarryb Registered Users, Retired Mod Posts: 22,708 Major grins
    edited May 18, 2012
    jwear wrote: »
    This is a great series and good education ,very good exposure but why the 300 when that 4 is at home ???

    Thanks Jeff and I used the D300 with the 500 and TC because I needed reach on these small subjects plus the D4 hadn't arrived yet when I took these captures.
    Harry
    http://behret.smugmug.com/ NANPA member
    How many photographers does it take to change a light bulb? 50. One to change the bulb, and forty-nine to say, "I could have done that better!"
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    HarrybHarryb Registered Users, Retired Mod Posts: 22,708 Major grins
    edited May 18, 2012
    tshaddick wrote: »
    Great shots. I like the second and third one. Great job.

    Thanks very much.
    Harry
    http://behret.smugmug.com/ NANPA member
    How many photographers does it take to change a light bulb? 50. One to change the bulb, and forty-nine to say, "I could have done that better!"
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    PGMPGM Registered Users Posts: 2,007 Major grins
    edited May 18, 2012
    Harryb wrote: »
    Hey Pam,

    The key here was the time of day which was between 7:35 and 8:15 AM. In harsh light the dynamic range woud have been too great. Then I had good light on them with the sun just about behind my back so I was able to to keep some of the shadow detail w/o too much of the highlights blowing. I used an exposure adjustment of -2/3rds of a stop. I wanted a higher shutter speed but I was shooting with the D300 with the 500mm f/4 lens and I don't like to shoot DX bodies at too high of an ISO.

    With stilts you wnat to get the red eye showing. W/o that eye the captures don't have the same impact so head angle was an important consideration. In the processing I did not try to bring out the shadow detail because with DX images that would introduce too much noise. Some of the highlights were slightly blown but I was usually able to address that with Nik's detail extrractor filter. I used that filter selectively on the highlights. I didn't use it on the darker areas because of noise considerations. On a couple of the images I had to use the clone tool for some blown out areas. Sharpening was applied selectively mainly to the highlight areas and eyes and not the shadow areas. NR was applied to the water but never on the subjects (the stilts).

    Thanks, Harry, that is very helpful. I can see that I have used the detail extractor on dark areas and gotten noise, so I won't do that again. I never thought of using the cone tool for blown highlights.

    Best, Pam
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    Dick on ArubaDick on Aruba Registered Users Posts: 3,484 Major grins
    edited May 18, 2012
    Great series Harry.
    "Nothing sharpens sight like envy."
    Thomas Fuller.

    SmugMug account.
    Website.
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    HarrybHarryb Registered Users, Retired Mod Posts: 22,708 Major grins
    edited May 19, 2012
    Brian_S wrote: »
    great set of images Harry!

    Thanks Brian
    Harry
    http://behret.smugmug.com/ NANPA member
    How many photographers does it take to change a light bulb? 50. One to change the bulb, and forty-nine to say, "I could have done that better!"
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    GaleGale Registered Users Posts: 1,052 Major grins
    edited May 19, 2012
    Excellent Harry. Great captures.
    I will guess at the click ponds.
    Is the wetland closed with all the rain.
    Best Regards
    Gale

    www.pbase.com/techwish
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    HarrybHarryb Registered Users, Retired Mod Posts: 22,708 Major grins
    edited May 22, 2012
    PGM wrote: »
    Thanks, Harry, that is very helpful. I can see that I have used the detail extractor on dark areas and gotten noise, so I won't do that again. I never thought of using the cone tool for blown highlights.

    Best, Pam

    Its a case by case situation. For some captures it isn't a problem. In these shots it was a problem because I had to expose for the highlights and the light was rather strong. It was tough to pullout the shadow details w/o geting unacceptable noise levels.
    Harry
    http://behret.smugmug.com/ NANPA member
    How many photographers does it take to change a light bulb? 50. One to change the bulb, and forty-nine to say, "I could have done that better!"
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    HarrybHarryb Registered Users, Retired Mod Posts: 22,708 Major grins
    edited May 25, 2012
    Dick on Aruba wrote: »
    Great series Harry.

    Thanks Dick
    Harry
    http://behret.smugmug.com/ NANPA member
    How many photographers does it take to change a light bulb? 50. One to change the bulb, and forty-nine to say, "I could have done that better!"
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