Post Your Best Nature Shots!

[Jon Ruyle]

Nhut (Nate),


Your last two posts are great. Your bird pictures have great composition, color and sharpness (and I know that a sharp lens is only the beginning of getting pictures with that look... I also own sharp lenses, but...)


You sure get out a lot. Maybe if I got results like you, I would, too []

Nhut (Nate)

Do you prefer to be called Nate, or Nhut?

[Oren]

Nhut, thanks for the help, I'll try that next time - I was actually using similar settings. Here's what I was using (with respect to your list above):





1. I used Av


2. I used f/5.6 99% of the time


3. I actually was adjusting the ISO to get shutter speed of 1/1000 at least and sometimes even higher


4. I used AWB all the time - I simply totally forgot about the WB setting LOL


5. After realizing I made a mistake, AI Servo was used all the time


6. Sometimes I used continuous sometimes not, I wasn't sure which one would be better - now I know[]


7. As I said, I was using spot metering - BIG mistake, I will be using evaluative next time


8. I used 0 - 1 exposure compensation


9. Didn't used highlight tone priority


10. sRGB of course


11. I was shooting JPEGs, not RAW - I'll try RAW next time


12. The lens I was using has IS, but I use it as few as possible to save energy - even at relatively slow shutter speeds, so of course I didn't use it while shooting flying birds at high shutter speeds


13. I got very very close (I could touch them if I wished) to some birds later on, but of course I couldn't get close to the flying birds at the sky





As for the image example I asked you about: I'll send you my email in a sec... thanks again

[Jayson]

Thanks for the reply on the name. I have never seen one of those in person before. Thanks.


Jayson

[Sinh Nhut Nguyen]

My name is Nhut, I'm sure not too many people hereknow how to correctly pronounce it and no it's not "nut"[], so just call me Nate.


Here is what I did to theOsprey Imagebefore posting,

1. Crop - 3888x2592 to 3347x2281
2. Increase Exposure to +.50 in DPP (to brighten up the shadow, and eye)
3. AWB to Cloudy (It was a cloudy day)
4. Standard Picture Style to Potrait (this also brigthens up the shadows and the eye a bit)
5. Highlight from 0 to -4 (I did this because I want to bring back some of the details on the osprey forheadthat were lost when I increased the exposure +.5 in step 2)
6. Convert to JPEG and open in Photoshop CS2
7. I use the Magic Wand to select the yellow part of the eye and increase the Brightness to 30, Contrast to 15, and Saturation to 15 (If you selectively choose any area in the image it's best that you do it before resizing because the image is larger and you can do so with more accuracy.)
8. If I post at T.D.P. I resize to 750x500, on Photo.net it's 1200x800
9. Increase Brightness to 20 and Contrast to 10 to the entire picture.
10. Sharpening using Unsharp Mask function.

For 750x500 I use Amount 100%, Radius 0.2 pixels, I apply sharpening 4 times
For 1200x800 I also use Amount 100%, Radius 0.2 pixels, I apply sharpening 6 times
11. For Photo.net I also add the border
12. Save and post on web

I'm not a Photoshop Guru, I learn as I go and I learn by reading, viewing, asking questions in forums and trail/error.Each image has different work done to it, I don't have a set editingprocedure. I adjust/enhance to my taste and correct when someone comments.My #1 priority is to get it right the first time and use editing softwares to enhance the image.

Youprobably noticedthat I mentioned about the eye a lot. It is very important to get the eyein focus, brightand visible.If the image is missing the eye, something else has to be significant to take over for the missing eye.


I hope this answers some of your questions, and again I really appreciate your interest in my photography.

If you have time check out http://www.birdsasart.com/, lots of resources especially the bulletin archive.

Take care and God Bless

Nhut (Nate)

[Oren]

Ok, here is mine from yesterday:


It was heavily cropped from 4752x3168 to 1456x1280, then resized to 800x703 to fit this forum. Except the cropping and resizing, 0 (yes ZERO) PP was done.


[img]/cfs-file.ashx/__key/CommunityServer.Components.UserFiles/00.00.00.22.41/IMG_5F00_0782.jpg[/img]

[cian3307]

I usually take shots in RAW but flicked my 400D into 'Sports' mode and snapped this kestrel as it zoomed past. Got really lucky with the eye contact! 400D + 300 f/4L. Tv 1/2500 sec, Av f5, ISO 200.[img]/cfs-file.ashx/__key/CommunityServer.Components.UserFiles/00.00.00.23.16/Kestrel_5F00_2.jpg[/img]

[Sinh Nhut Nguyen]

Really nice shot cian, I like the wing pose, fanning tail feathers and the head angle. have you tried cropping tighter?

[cian3307]

Thanks Nate, but I'm not in your league when it comes to bird pics! Afraid its already cropped and IQ suffers if I crop any further. I need more glass or more megapixels[]

[Jon Ruyle]

Very cool, cian.


That eye contact really makes the pic IMO, and the detail is great.

[Colin]

Way cool.