Long-Tailed Shrike; Exposure and Photo Processing

[butchsanjuan]

Hello Ka Mastah Romy!

I've posted below pre-processed and processed photos of the Long-tailed Shrike. I would appreciate whatever comments you might have: on composition, exposure or processing. I use, primarily, Canon's Zoom Browser program for processing. I rely heavily on the program's automatic processing settings. But when I'm not happy with the outcome, I try to process further using the program's "Tone Curve" functionality.

I cannot seem to get the eyes of the LTS well. In other frames (not posted) where the eyes came out the way I wanted, the white breast of the LTS was blown out.

Thanks in advance!

Butch




550D, 100-400L, 400mm, Tv: 1/250, Av: 7.1, ISO (auto) 200, handheld






550D, 100-400L, 400mm, Tv: 1/250, Av: 7.1, ISO (auto) 160, handheld






550D, 100-400L, 400mm, Tv: 1/250, Av: 7.1, ISO (auto) 250, handheld

[Romy Ocon]

Hi Butch,

1. Your sharpening looks great to me.

2. On my LCD, the colors are a bit oversaturated for my taste.

3. The shadows details are also masked and hidden by the strong contrast.

It's really tough to expose an LTS well because of its contrasting plumage, particularly when it is lit by a strong sun. If one shoots this bird during overcast days, the colors will appear dull. I find that it's best to shoot them in direct sunlight during the first or last hour of daylight.

BTW, what monitor are you using and is it calibrated?

[butchsanjuan]

Hi Ka Mastah!

Thanks for replying quickly.

1. I'm happy that you find my photos sharp. I was worried early on about the softness of my photos and thought it was because I had a soft lens. I adjusted my camera's (550D) sharpness setting to 0 + 6 (default was at 0 + 3). And I do not shoot handheld at slower than 1/250. It appears these helped.
2. and 3. I think I know the problem. I was also worried that my earlier photos were flat, so I adjusted my camera's contrast, saturation and color tone setting as follows: contrast to 0+2 (default at 0); saturation to 0+3 (default at 0); and color tone to 0+2 (default at 0). It appears I overdid it. I've restored the default settings for these. I'll try to catch the LTS again under similar conditions so that I can do a comparison with the above photos.

My monitors are: Samsung 226BW SyncMaster 22" (TFT-LCD (1680x1050) for my desktop and a 13.3"WXGA Clear SuperView TFT (1,280 x 800) for my Toshiba Portege M900-S337. Neither is calibrated - honestly did not know they had to be.

Thanks for your kind attention!
Butch

[Romy Ocon]

Butch, when you're processing on an uncalibrated display, it's as if you're doing it blindly. The photo may look good on your display, but off in other people's LCD. Here's a link to a quick LCD visual test, check it out and see how your display performs .

www.lagom.nl/lcd-test/

[butchsanjuan]

Thanks Ka Mastah!

Butch