I caught this shot of a paid of Bald Eagles the other day from an airboat. I would like a critique, and maybe some advice on what to do about the background, since it was a cloudy day, and so it's whited out.
The eagles are a bit small, relative to the frame. The lighting is very low in contrast and the white sky is a negative.
You could improve the image by cropping it, adjusting the Shadows/Highlights, masking and adding a graduated blue for a sky. But there are limits to how much you can improve it. Quality of light is pretty close to essential. Without it, even the best PP generally can't make a great image.
I like this image. Great capture of the big birds.
If you are new to bird images you have discovered a frequent problem. How to get good feather detail against a bright sky, without blowing out the sky. The answer is.....you often cant. Unless you get a Better Beamer or other focused flash and are close enough to throw some fill flash from a distance.
Personally, I wouldnt change the background color, although it's certainly possible, with some PS skill, to put in a sky, perhaps with a bit of gradient.
As for the image as presented, I'd be tempted to bring in the crop a bit, while maintaining similar proportions. Maybe a tad off the right, more from the left and a bit from the top. They will still be pointing into open space, will look less lost in the whiteness. I like the OOF leaves and branches. Could use some additional sharpening and just a touch of shadow recovery.
Actually, this was from a moving airboat on the Saint Johns River. I work at KSC, and have some photos from the NWR, and a lot of shuttle pix.
I was conflicted about the crop, because with the lack of light and our motion, and the higher ISO, I was concerned about graininess in the pic. I really like the OOF stuff too, and was afraid to lose it. I wish it had been a sunny day. I'll be going back on one.
Thanks, Tom. It's great you have opportunities to capture these majestic birds...especially in flight!
Keep at it, I just adjusted WB...."Cloudy" works well in this light as opposed to AWB, IS turned off and
a burst of 3 or 4 will usually nail one for ya. I used to back off to 380-390mm and liked f8 for sharpest results. GL!
