Shikra

[Nishad Rangnekar]

Kanha National park, May 2009, Canon 40D, Canon EF 300F4L + 1.4 TC, Iso 200, AE mode , Aperture set 5.6, shutter speed achieved 1/160, evaluative metering. This shikra was perched under lot of shade as were we. used a monopod resting on the ground from the gypsy. All C & C eagerly awaited.

[Sabyasachi Patra]

Nishad,
Good pose. I agree with the composition. The rim lighting around the tail feathers is nice. It is unfortunate that there is a bright patch of sky behind the Shikra. It is not easy to always move to avoid it, as you may disturb the bird. However, a slight change in position would have helped.

Which software do you use for post processing? You can work on the levels and open up the blacks and shadows a bit.

Cheers,
Sabysachi

[Nishad Rangnekar]

Dear Sabyasachi, I forgot to mention that this is a full frame shot. and the bird was quite restless so couldnt position the gypsy or the angle of the monopod.
and i use picasa and zoom browser for pp. i am planning to learn CS3, i have already got a copy of that from harshad but still didnt use it. i will try to highlight the black using cs3. thanks for the tip.
regards

[Mital Patel]

hi nishad,
this is really nice image if this is a full frame.
little job of pp can do a gr8 to this frame.

here is what i did in PS CS3

[Harshad Barve]

Great capture & very well done Mital

PP is required but can help only on good images, this is nice image

TFS, Harshad

[Nishad Rangnekar]

my god mital what have you done to my image.... now the bird looks like a 3 dimensional subject clearly standing out from the background.. classic work. can i get some details of what actually you changed in cs3. i am not very friendly with cs3, still trying to learn the basics. and yes i assure you that this is a full frame image. i have another one with bird perching in a different angle. will pp it with cs3 this time and upload it soon. thanks for showing me the scope of improving.
warm regards

[Mital Patel]

Dear Nishad,
i've done nothing extra ordinary to do this except some highlight and shadow and curve work. then i did some sharpness on different layers.

just about 2 minutes work on this file and uploded.

my god mital what have you done to my image.... now the bird looks like a 3 dimensional subject clearly standing out from the background.. classic work. can i get some details of what actually you changed in cs3. i am not very friendly with cs3, still trying to learn the basics. and yes i assure you that this is a full frame image. i have another one with bird perching in a different angle. will pp it with cs3 this time and upload it soon. thanks for showing me the scope of improving.
warm regards

[Nishad Rangnekar]

thanks mital for the info. i surely will work on this theme of cs3.
regards

[Sabyasachi Patra]

Nishad,
Mital is very good in digital art. However, a word of caution.

Please remember that photoshoping including cloning, working on several layers and merging them, selective sharpening etc are not allowed in major photo competitions. You may refer to this link for knowing more about BBC Wildlife photographer of the year competition. It is good to have a benchmark:
http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=626

Also please keep in mind that when we know that the lighting is from the other side, so how can the underside of the tail be lighted in this manner. Also, the rim lighting on the tail has been lost in Mital's repost.

It is too easy to go overboard with our skills. So I had suggested that opening up the shadows will be better. This kind of extensive photo shopping changes the very nature of the image.

My 2 cents.

Cheers,
Sabyasachi

[Nishad Rangnekar]

changed the original image in pp. i.e just adjusted the curves and tried to highlight the blacks as suggested by you. please comment. is the contrast on the higher side ?
regards

[AB Apana]

Backlit images always cause PP problems. The highlights in the BG are distracting.

Is your lens the IS version, in which case you don't need the monopod.

Apana

[Nishad Rangnekar]

yes my lens is with IS, but i am reluctant to use it handheld, always try to use a tripod , a bean bag ,if not atleast a monopod.in some cases i do handheld but am reluctant to do so.

[Rakesh Dhareshwar]

Lovely image. The bird is exposed beautifully. The rim lighting cold have been accentuated .

In PP you can do a lot with such imges. Here is a hurridely done one.
Cloned the twig in front , the white patch behind ( Not a good job ) , and increased bit of contrast .