Taken on a very overcast afternoon.
Any thoughts or comments more than welcome
Hiya Mushy,
Your shots came out OK considering the lousy lighting you had. The 3rd shot was my favorite of the group. Now get out there and bring us back some more pics when you get some better light.
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!"
I don't know what focal length you were shooting, but I would recommend zooming in more on the bird in the top two photos. If you were close enought you could have used fill flash. Another alternative if you have spot meter capability would have been to meter directly off a gray card if you have one or your hand if you don't to get a light reading for the conditions (your hand should give you a reading close to a gray card).
You appear to have been close enough to the bird in the third photo so I would have recommended that you do a spot reading off the bird's back.
In overcast conditions light tends to come from everywhere and if you use averaging the meter tends to be fooled. In those conditions it is best to spot meter the main subject if possible.
Of course, if all else fails there is Photoshop. Colors tend to mute in overcast conditions so it normally helps to add a little saturation. In the example below, I adjusted the image using the Shadows/Highlight tool in Photoshop CS using the bird as my subject. Then I added some saturation to bring out the red color in the bill. I didn't worry about the water at that point. I then created an overlay mask and added some color to the water.
Dixie Photographs by Dixie | Canon 1Ds | Canon 5D Mark II | Canon 5D | Canon 50D | Canon 10D | Canon EOS Elan 7 | Mamiya Pro S RB67 |
...and bunches of Canon lenses - I'm equipment rich and dollar poor!
Comments
Your shots came out OK considering the lousy lighting you had. The 3rd shot was my favorite of the group. Now get out there and bring us back some more pics when you get some better light.
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!"
“PHOTOGRAPHY IS THE ‘JAZZ’ FOR THE EYES…”
http://jwear.smugmug.com/
You appear to have been close enough to the bird in the third photo so I would have recommended that you do a spot reading off the bird's back.
In overcast conditions light tends to come from everywhere and if you use averaging the meter tends to be fooled. In those conditions it is best to spot meter the main subject if possible.
Of course, if all else fails there is Photoshop. Colors tend to mute in overcast conditions so it normally helps to add a little saturation. In the example below, I adjusted the image using the Shadows/Highlight tool in Photoshop CS using the bird as my subject. Then I added some saturation to bring out the red color in the bill. I didn't worry about the water at that point. I then created an overlay mask and added some color to the water.
Photographs by Dixie
| Canon 1Ds | Canon 5D Mark II | Canon 5D | Canon 50D | Canon 10D | Canon EOS Elan 7 | Mamiya Pro S RB67 |
...and bunches of Canon lenses - I'm equipment rich and dollar poor!