How To Crop A Heron?

[sm4him]

Well, a heron picture anyway. I'll leave the actual heron intact.

I took a walk down to the river at lunchtime a couple of days ago--didn't expect to see much more than gulls and the American coots I've been trying to get a decent picture of (with little success--all black ducks are pretty tough!).

So I was quite surprised when I saw a heron about 20 feet away from me, sitting on the dock rail next to the riverboat. I was even MORE surprised when, as I was taking pictures of the heron, a second heron flew within about 10 feet of me before landing along the shoreline. I missed getting pictures of it flying in because by the time I realized it was there, it was too late to get a shot off.

Anyway, they both ended up settling in quite close to me and I got several decent shots (some of which I'll probably share in another thread). BUT--most of the shots are of them on man-made objects, which I tend to try to avoid. But there was NO way I was going to pass up close-ups of them just because of where they were.

The one in these photos is the one that came flying in to the shoreline. It then flew up onto the canvas top of a "river cruise" boat next to the riverboat, and settled in there. I got some pretty nice shots, but they all have the blue canvas boat top in them, and/or some ugly industrial buildings on the other side of the river. So, I tried to minimize those things.

So, here's my question. Out of the three photos below, which do you prefer?

1. I like this photo the best, because its mouth is open. But it's on the unnatural-looking blue awning, and the building in the background is distracting, imo (it may not help that I attempted to clone out the bright red door on the building--I'm not good at cloning!).
EDIT: And yes, the building is tilted. But I can't straighten it without losing the bird's posterior.



2. This is the same photo as #1, but I've cropped it so the blue awning doesn't show and only a little of the building. However, in the process, I also lose the rest of its leg. Also, it's a square crop, and I'm not always a fan of square photos.


3. This one is an entirely different picture. No building, no square crop and it shows the entire bird, but it does still have the blue awning.



Comments? Suggestions? General banter? It's all welcome here.

 

[runnah]

They feel a little tight horizontally. Maybe a touch under exposed, or maybe more contrasts is needed.

 

[shefjr]

I actually like number 3 even though the mouth isn't opened. I think it looks cool. The only part of number 3 that looks funny is the reflection in the water that makes it almost look as though the bird is a rocket that is getting ready to blast off. Lol!
On a separate note, for taking photos of black ducks try (if you haven't already) adjusting your EV. I almost always have my EV adjusted now when I'm out birding. I have found it helps me to get a better exposure for the birds.

 

[runnah]

 

[sm4him]

They feel a little tight horizontally. Maybe a touch under exposed, or maybe more contrasts is needed.

View attachment 35369

Hmm, interesting. I didn't really think they were underexposed. I do like your edit, but I'd like to know what you did with it. Did you just up the contrast?

I'd already pushed the contract to the extent I was comfortable with--post-processing is just not my strongest area (ha! I'm not really sure what my strongest area IS, exactly, but I know it's not that!) and I'm always afraid I'll OVER-process, so perhaps I end up not going far enough.

What do others think? Not enough contrast?

Oh, and I agree about the tight framing; one of the main reasons for that is that JUST to the left out of the frame is a huge black pole that was sticking up from the dock and was quite distracting. I suppose I could have either cloned it out (did I mention I stink at cloning?) or at least left more room on the right side for the bird to look into. Maybe I should have tried landscape orientation--but that would have again shown even more of the horrid blue awning that I was trying to minimize.

 

[sm4him]

I actually like number 3 even though the mouth isn't opened. I think it looks cool. The only part of number 3 that looks funny is the reflection in the water that makes it almost look as though the bird is a rocket that is getting ready to blast off. Lol!
On a separate note, for taking photos of black ducks try (if you haven't already) adjusting your EV. I almost always have my EV adjusted now when I'm out birding. I have found it helps me to get a better exposure for the birds.

:lmao: I never even noticed that reflection! But of course, now that you've mentioned it, ALL I can see is a heron about to be launched!

I've played a little with adjusting the EV, but not while trying to shoot those durn black ducks, so thanks. Next time, I'll give that a try. The good thing is, this area of the river is within easy walking distance from where I work, so as the days get a little warmer, I'll be spending more and more time down there at lunchtime. Should have plenty of opportunity to get photos of the coots.

 

[runnah]

They feel a little tight horizontally. Maybe a touch under exposed, or maybe more contrasts is needed.

View attachment 35369

Hmm, interesting. I didn't really think they were underexposed. I do like your edit, but I'd like to know what you did with it. Did you just up the contrast?

I'd already pushed the contract to the extent I was comfortable with--post-processing is just not my strongest area (ha! I'm not really sure what my strongest area IS, exactly, but I know it's not that!) and I'm always afraid I'll OVER-process, so perhaps I end up not going far enough.

What do others think? Not enough contrast?

Oh, and I agree about the tight framing; one of the main reasons for that is that JUST to the left out of the frame is a huge black pole that was sticking up from the dock and was quite distracting. I suppose I could have either cloned it out (did I mention I stink at cloning?) or at least left more room on the right side for the bird to look into. Maybe I should have tried landscape orientation--but that would have again shown even more of the horrid blue awning that I was trying to minimize.

Adjusted levels. Increased Highlights, brought up shadows and lowered midtones.
Did an unsharpmask
Increased saturation.

 

[oldhippy]

Great shots. Did you use a tripod .love the detail. Will upgrade my d5100 next year. I'll be asking you from time to time about the upgrade to. Your 7000 . Thanks Ed

 

[sm4him]

Hmm, interesting. I didn't really think they were underexposed. I do like your edit, but I'd like to know what you did with it. Did you just up the contrast?

Adjusted levels. Increased Highlights, brought up shadows and lowered midtones.
Did an unsharpmask
Increased saturation.

Okay, thanks. Do you know what your settings were on the unsharp mask? I'd already done that I thought was really pushing the limits of what I could get away with, so perhaps I should have taken it further. I definitely need to get more comfortable with this part--I rarely change the saturation or mess with the curves much at all, just because I have trouble telling what's not enough, what's too much and what is having no effect.

Great shots. Did you use a tripod .love the detail. Will upgrade my d5100 next year. I'll be asking you from time to time about the upgrade to. Your 7000 . Thanks Ed

Thanks, Ed! No tripod on these--not worth lugging it down to the riverside with me just for a lunchtime walk, especially since I really just thought I'd be practicing on some gulls and such. However, there was a rail and once the birds demonstrated that they had no intention of being scared off by my presence, I used that to brace myself. But I was also using a pretty fast shutter speed which also helped minimize the camera shake.

I'll be happy to help any way I can once you've got a D7000--maybe by then, I'll understand how to use mine better! :lmao:

 

[runnah]

Amount: 36%
Radius: 1.0 pixels
Threshold: 0 Levels

I didn't use curves, just levels. Curves is another ballgame.

 

[JacaRanda]

Hi Sharon. I have been enjoying your birdie birdie tweet tweet pictures; even though I am guilty of not commenting (enough). I share most of your frustrations (I need the grande super duper telephoto lens, I need to have more patience and learn to creep closer, and I dislike - not good at pp) I FEEL YOUR PAIN!

I like Runnah's edit with a touch more contrast and or clarity.

At some point, I will have to put on my big boy pants and start posting, and make use of the gazillion videos I have watched on pp both with Lightroom and PSE.

Keep up the good work!

 

[sm4him]

Hi Sharon. I have been enjoying your birdie birdie tweet tweet pictures; even though I am guilty of not commenting (enough). I share most of your frustrations (I need the grande super duper telephoto lens, I need to have more patience and learn to creep closer, and I dislike - not good at pp) I FEEL YOUR PAIN!

I like Runnah's edit with a touch more contrast and or clarity.

At some point, I will have to put on my big boy pants and start posting, and make use of the gazillion videos I have watched on pp both with Lightroom and PSE.

Keep up the good work!

Thanks for the comment, JacaRanda--I'm glad you came out of the shadows and said something, and I appreciate the compliment; glad you've enjoyed my feeble little birdie attempts!

Please DO share your own--it's scary, but the honesty and help I've received on this forum since I joined have done more to help me grow as a photographer than anything else (well, except having a camera and lenses--I find that pretty helpful too!).

 

[runnah]

 

[coastalconn]

Sharon, They look pretty good Could you not crop these as small? Is there too much stuff around it? I would like to see a touch more of the surroundings...

Runnah, looks like the hero is almost ready for this blizzard

 

[SCraig]

I agree that they need a bit more breathing room horizontally. I don't think they are necessarily underexposed, however any time the background is brighter than the subject it's going to look that way. You can either darken the background or lighten the subject to compensate.

Excellent shots though. Nice and sharp.