wickerprints
11-24-2009, 05:59 PM
So I had some moderate success with my new EF 300/4L IS, photographing a sparkling violetear. Such an incredibly beautiful bird.
Here is a 50% crop.
/cfs-file.ashx/__key/CommunityServer.Components.UserFiles/00.00.00.30.26/20091123_5F00_0079c.JPG
As you can see, there are some white specks on the bird's plumage. I could easily clone these out. But at the same time, I wonder if I should even do it at all, since the specks were really on the bird. Yet I do find the spots rather distracting; I feel they detract from the image, and I didn't exactly have the luxury of taking a brush and dusting him off, or running him under the kitchen sink.
So what do you think? Should I keep the white specks, or clone them out? Where would you draw the line on such things? I could just maintain two versions of course. But for me I think this is a definite gray area. Color balance, sharpening, and contrast adjustments are okay with me because the idea is to get closer to what one saw. But this feels different to me.
Here is a 50% crop.
/cfs-file.ashx/__key/CommunityServer.Components.UserFiles/00.00.00.30.26/20091123_5F00_0079c.JPG
As you can see, there are some white specks on the bird's plumage. I could easily clone these out. But at the same time, I wonder if I should even do it at all, since the specks were really on the bird. Yet I do find the spots rather distracting; I feel they detract from the image, and I didn't exactly have the luxury of taking a brush and dusting him off, or running him under the kitchen sink.
So what do you think? Should I keep the white specks, or clone them out? Where would you draw the line on such things? I could just maintain two versions of course. But for me I think this is a definite gray area. Color balance, sharpening, and contrast adjustments are okay with me because the idea is to get closer to what one saw. But this feels different to me.