A couple of Great Egret pix - no pun intended

[Max P D]

I was out at the local state park Saturday shooting a family of Mute Swans preening their feathers when this Great Egret came along. I was only about 10 feet away :eek6: using a 80-200mm lens - this egret must be somewhat "domesticated" cuz they usually scoot whenever I approach on my bike anywhere else. Or maybe it just felt secure since I was so close to the swans and their cygnets - they can be aggressive when their young are threatened - so I hear...

Sorry about the distortion on the second shot - an obvious extreme crop - but I was impressed with the bird's ability to flip a water bug into its gullet. Way cool.

[OBie]

Nice shots Max. Isn't it a fun shooting those white birds?! Nearly drove me to drink trying to get them exposed properly.

Very cool that he came so close to you!

[Max P D]

Nice shots Max. Isn't it a fun shooting those white birds?! Nearly drove me to drink trying to get them exposed properly.

Very cool that he came so close to you!

Thanks OBie, I hear you, digital helps of course! White balance is another matter too. There's a bit of a green cast from the lily pads that I couldn't get right...

("Ever take it over any sweet jumps?" Napoleon Dynamite to his friend Pedro about his Sledgehammer mountain bike. :thumbsup

[Max P D]

Added some blue under color balance in PS that seeemed to help. I gotta spend more time color-correcting...

[paulnj]

Way too much blue

I too have trouble color correcting, but honestly... auto colors in PS CS2 works wonders on this file. Also if you have "variations" in your PS , try it

[Max P D]

Way too much blue

I too have trouble color correcting, but honestly... auto colors in PS CS2 works wonders on this file. Also if you have "variations" in your PS , try it

Thanks for your input paulnj!

Our monitors must be calibrated differently cuz it looks pretty good to me...

I sometimes open Variations just for ideas but seldom use it - I find Selective Color, under Image>Adjustments, works much better.

In this updated version I lightened the water surrounding the bird. Is that where you were seeing too much blue?

Thanks, Max

[paulnj]

As a person who has spent most of my life outside working, I can tell you the first was way to blue and the egret has a blue cast still in this recent version. My monitor isn't "calibrated" officially , but I assure you it's calibrated extremely close to perfect

I have never tried selective color until just now. Having just done it, that is definately a good adjusting tool once mastered.

Here is how I envision the sceen(looks overcast and rainy).... hope you don't mind. Auto color(I use levels/variations/hue on my files) and open shadows a little.

[Max P D]

As a person who has spent most of my life outside working, I can tell you the first was way to blue and the egret has a blue cast still in this recent version. My monitor isn't "calibrated" officially , but I assure you it's calibrated extremely close to perfect

I have never tried selective color until just now. Having just done it, that is definately a good adjusting tool once mastered.

Here is how I envision the sceen(looks overcast and rainy).... hope you don't mind. Auto color(I use levels/variations/hue on my files) and open shadows a little.

Hi again Paul!

No, I don't mind. I was hoping you, or someone else, would re-post my pic with toning improvements.

My monitor (eMac) isn't calibrated "officially" either, other than straight from the Mac factory...

Your post of my pic looks quite close to my original post (at least on my monitor). My original pic looks a bit too green (to me) from light bouncing up from the lily pads.

You've raised interesting points about the differences in computers. :idea:

I have a co-worker/friend who is very high-tech savy, uses Canon gear, and has a calibrated computer, yet his images look way out of whack/balance on other machines...

Keep on keeping on...,
Max

[paulnj]

It's close, but with less green to my eyes.

I bet his machines are calibrated to his printer and such. I have had the same monitor for 5 years atleast and viewed over A MILLION images.... 99% look perfect. my files look exactly the same printed at my local lab(no adjustments) when held up to my monitor and his calibrated monitor.

[Max P D]

It's close, but with less green to my eyes.

I bet his machines are calibrated to his printer and such. I have had the same monitor for 5 years atleast and viewed over A MILLION images.... 99% look perfect. my files look exactly the same printed at my local lab(no adjustments) when held up to my monitor and his calibrated monitor.

Sounds good Paul. Mind sharing your secret?

Or anyone else for that matter...:yesnod:

[Max P D]

Isn't it a fun shooting those white birds?! Nearly drove me to drink trying to get them exposed properly.

Words of wisdom OBie, words of wisdom...:yesnod: :crazy: :ihih:

[paulnj]

I set mine up years ago and can't remember what I did. It was set quite well from the box and I was talked through it by a friend(who I lost contact with)

[Max P D]

Paul,

I felt the ideal toning lies somewhere between your correction and mine and tried to find a happy middle ground by using Selective Color on the bird's white feathers.

One thing this post has taught me is to slow down while toning... :wink5:

[paulnj]

looks good! Don't feel like your the only one..... I get help with wierd color cast too Color correcting is not my thing when the casts are severe.

[Sushigaijin]

On a related topic, i recently had some prints made, and was very surprised to see how much cooler my monitor was than the actual image. I have since spent quite a bit of time working on better calibration, but i fear that my 7 year old monitor may be due for replacement. Now it is much better, but it just doesn't have the range that it probably did when i first got it.

Erik.

[Jingle]

I like the full body shot as the second one seems to be OOF. Great shot.

[OBie]

Words of wisdom OBie, words of wisdom...:yesnod: :crazy: :ihih:

Haha!! And it was so much easier when we sent film off to the lab and loved the prints. Now WE have to be the ones to decide, "Hmmm - a touch more blue? Maybe some green. Noo, too much of that . . . etc. etc. etc."

BTW - I have a new iMac and I'm loving it! (No idea if colors are calibrated correctly )