Finally caught him with it up!

Sue5606 · Jun 6, 2013

My peacocks are getting more friendly and this one was prancing around with his tail up for me! What do you think? CC please and thank you.

PixelRabbit · Jun 6, 2013

Hey Sue, I love these guys, their colours and patterns are amazing.
With a little TLC in post I think you have a nice image here.

If you look at your histogram it is all piled up at the left end, this indicates it is underexposed which makes the colours muddy and the image on the whole flat and soft, there is sooo much vibrance and detail still in the image that can be brought out. I did a super quick edit to show what's there.

I brightened the exposure, added a bit of saturation and sharpened the image.

PixelRabbit · Jun 6, 2013

I should have added, I really like the directional light coming from the right, it lays across his body nicely, nice choice.

Ziggee · Jun 6, 2013

Nice edit

Sue5606 · Jun 6, 2013

Thanks! Love the edit. I just got Lightroom and am trying to learn. I think I pretty much made some adjustments and resorted to something like when it was SOOC. The peacocks are getting more friendly ad I have been hand feeding the, so I'll be able to get more fun pictures

tirediron · Jun 6, 2013

Nice capture and great edit by PR!

PixelRabbit · Jun 6, 2013

Sue5606 said:
Thanks! Love the edit. I just got Lightroom and am trying to learn. I think I pretty much made some adjustments and resorted to something like when it was SOOC. The peacocks are getting more friendly ad I have been hand feeding the, so I'll be able to get more fun pictures

Thanks guys

How long have you had them Sue? We moved here just over a year ago and eventually want to have some furry and feathered friends and peacocks are definitely on the wish list, they are simply eye candy!

The edits I did are really basic, you were close. I found it took me some time to be able to automatically "see" things like underexposure when it's within a stop or less and white balance issues, watching the histogram helps so much especially when you are learning.

If you check it on your edit you will see the peaks of the mountains all piled up on the left, you want them in the middle and spread out nicely from end to end, once it is you have maximized the range of colours and potential levels of contrast you have to work with when you work on saturation, contrast, sharpness etc all of those things combine to give your image depth and definition.

Looking forward to more shots of this fella!

teribithia · Jun 7, 2013

Very nice, how long do you waiting for the moment. I once waited for an hour, but the bird always sleeping .

esselle · Jun 7, 2013

What a beautiful shot!

Sue5606 · Jun 7, 2013

I have had them for about 6 months. The previous owners had to get rid of them as he was "aggressive" and attacked her daughter and fought with the other male. He was very nervous at first (as were we!) but after approaching cautiously and feeding him treats we have both be me more comfortable. He now literally eats out if our hands.
When we 1st got him he didn't want to put his feathers up at all but lately he does it frequently. I just grabbed my camera when he put it up. I was in his cage for this shot and he had his tail up and walking directly at me and looking at me straight on like he thought I was his girlfriend. That's how I got such a cool perspective. He didn't even care when I was bouncing the flash inside his cage.