Need help. Blown out colors

Maestro

Well, I forgot to check my settings on my camera before I snapped this shot and I blew out the colors. A few days back I had been shooting in some low light so my ISO was high, 800. Today, it was very bright but I forgot to reset my ISO. :bash Anyhow, I have tried to "fix" the picture, but I am not satisfied.

Anyone have any advice on what to do to fix the blown out whites of the chest especially? Thanks in advance.



The original, uncropped version is this one. Everything is blown out of whack here, but I want to try to salvage the shot. I don't get very many perched Red Tailed Hawks in a tree.



Ugly uh? :cry Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated.

pathfinder

Unless your shot above was captured in RAW, I think there is little to be done, after inspection of the Red, Green and Blue channels of your imge above.

You've got much better in your gallery....:D Very nice!!

Maestro

Thanks Pathfinder. I love that one too, but I really wanted some more of the boid perched in a tree. I was so excited to that new red tail perched that I jumped out of my truck and just began shooting. Oh why didn't I check the settings? cry

CatOne

Maestro wrote:

Thanks Pathfinder. I love that one too, but I really wanted some more of the boid perched in a tree. I was so excited to that new red tail perched that I jumped out of my truck and just began shooting. Oh why didn't I check the settings? cry

What is going on with the bokeh of the first shot? It's quite distracting.

I think, contrary to your handle, that for this particular shot you needed less light

Oh, and perhaps a lesson about checking the histogram after the shot :P

pathfinder

I noted that strange bokeh too Cat. Not sure what lens was used, I could not find the image in his gallery to get the exif data. My first thought was maybe a DO but it isn't realy doughnut highlights, and some telephotos can capture a strange bokeh with out of focus tree limbs, particularly consumer zooms.

I have seen it it some of my images at times.

gluwater

Just for the record, your ISO wasn't the problem. You had a +1.33 EC dialed in. Just because the ISO is set too high doesn't mean you will overexpose. I would toss this shot. As hard as it is to throw out a shot of a raptor, usualy if you have to ask if the shot can be saved it is well past the point of no return. Plus as Pathfinder pointed out, you have much better shots in your gallery.

zacker

once the whites are blown out theres nothing left to save... the info there is pure white so thats all youll get. sorry. You might wanna either get into the practice or returning all your settings after every shoot to what ever your usual setting are or using a lable maker to make a lable that says "Settings?" and stick it to your camera or somewhere youll see if before you even turn it on! Good luck!

ivar

CatOne wrote:

What is going on with the bokeh of the first shot? It's quite distracting.

I noticed that as well. I've not seen that before, very strange... What lens was used to shoot this?

Malte

Maybe this can help.

Malte

pathfinder

Malte wrote:

Maybe this can help.

Malte

Unfortunately when I looked at the R, G, B histogram with plate bending in mind, all three channels were gone.

That is why I posted my comment that I thought there was little to be gained in trying to salvage this image. Maybe someone else will give it a try an surprise us all.

Maestro

Hey, ya'll. Thanks for chiming in. I shot this using a Canon 100mm-400mm F4L. The lens what at 400mm for the shot if I remember correctly. I noticed that nutty bokeh too. I have never noticed it before. I believe the background is so cluttered with thick brush that what you are seeing are branches blurred in the background. Or it perhaps is a result of running the pic through Noise Ninja . I am not sure. I do think the shot is "file 13." For what it is worth, the exif is:

Aperture value 9.0
Exposure time: 1/640
Exposure program was normal, auto
Focal Length 400mm
ISO 800
Color: sRGB