Critique I'm watching you

Gav.

Gav.

Challenge Owner
Messages
7,760
Name
Gav
Edit My Images
Yes
Hi all

I'm back for image 'health' check ;):LOL:

I got in from work and a local Redkite was circling the gardens, looked small, not sure if it's a youngster? I grabbed the camera and had another go at trying to get it right.

Taken around 5.30pm, sun was still fairly high and sky was very bright.

1/1600 - ISO 640 - f4 - EXP Comp +2. 1/3 - 300mm (image is cropped to almost half original, so lost some detail)

Affinity Photo edit for highlight taming, some of the whites have blown, starting to think I should give up shooting into bright sky :LOL:

Thank you for taking the time to look :)


Redkite by Gavin Wickham, on Flickr

IMG_0384.jpg
 
Last edited:
It looks about perfect on my screen Gav, well done :D
 
Always good to see a Kite, they have a special meaning for me but that's another story.

Not easy light you had to work with but you have done well to get some nice detail underneath against that sky. Only nit pick for me is the bright forehead but I don't think it's quite blown.

Also, having Kites over your garden makes me just a little jealous. :)
 
Nice Gav, :) Yes I can see a tad, high-highlights, but you did well against that sky.

You say "small" I suggest that makes it a male, with a wing span of around 4 feet + , females around 5 feet +.
It also looks like an adult, in moult, note the 2 gaps in the wings, they ( birds generally) moult feathers in pairs,
so the old feathers are protecting the new ones as they grow.
 
Dale. said:
Always good to see a Kite, they have a special meaning for me but that's another story.

Not easy light you had to work with but you have done well to get some nice detail underneath against that sky. Only nit pick for me is the bright forehead but I don't think it's quite blown.

Also, having Kites over your garden makes me just a little jealous. :)
Click to expand...
Glad I could share an image that has some sort of a reminder/meaning for you

I did look at the head, but no matter what I tried it just messed it up, I think I just over exp'd the image a tad, I'll get one right one day

We don't get the numbers we use to here but they do circle the village from time to time :)

Thank you for the feed back :)
 
Last edited:
Cobra said:
Nice Gav, :) Yes I can see a tad, high-highlights, but you did well against that sky.

You say "small" I suggest that makes it a male, with a wing span of around 4 feet + , females around 5 feet +.
It also looks like an adult, in moult, note the 2 gaps in the wings, they ( birds generally) moult feathers in pairs,
so the old feathers are protecting the new ones as they grow.
Click to expand...
Thank you Chris, I'll keep playing with the settings :)

Thanks for the info, the gaps in the wings was the first thing I noticed, I think that's what made me think youngster, but 4ft span would be about right from what I saw, so Adult Male it is :)
I really need the read more in depth info on the wildlife ;)

Thanks again
 
Gav-canon said:
Glad I could share an image that has some sort of a reminder/meaning for you

I did look at the head, but no matter what I tried it just messed it up, I think I just over exp'd the image a tad, I'll get one right one day

We don't get the numbers we use to here but they do circle the village from time to time :)

Thank you for the feed back :)
Click to expand...


It's not suprising you've gotten the highlight in that light Gav, it's such a small area on the head though that it makes little difference to the image overall. I'd be happy with the image myself in those conditions. (y)
 
Gav-canon said:
Thanks for the info, the gaps in the wings was the first thing I noticed, I think that's what made me think youngster,
Click to expand...
As you may or may not know, when chick fledge they have a full compliment of feathers.
 
Dale. said:
It's not suprising you've gotten the highlight in that light Gav, it's such a small area on the head though that it makes little difference to the image overall. I'd be happy with the image myself in those conditions. (y)
Click to expand...
Thanks Dale (y)
 
Cobra said:
As you may or may not know, when chick fledge they have a full compliment of feathers.
Click to expand...
I'll be honest, I didn't, I wasn't sure if they developed the full feathers after hitting a certain age/size, I feel like a plum :LOL:
 
A decent capture Gav, without looking at the original it`s hard to say much. As mentioned it`s always difficult when the subject has such a small amount of white marking on it, if anything I would have been tempted to either leave the exposure in the middle or applied a small amount of negative comp.
 
Decent shot I think, but yeah, the white. I've often felt that with my Tamron 150-600 I have to shoot on a bright day. Reason being, using high s.s. and a small aper in golden light just doesn't produce good results, there's just not enough light for decent exposure. Then again, the whites are the problem on the bright days as you mentioned, and I usually have to do a -2 step or more to keep the whites at bay. I think we can agree it's a tricky thing to do and get right.
 
Last edited:
u8myufo said:
A decent capture Gav, without looking at the original it`s hard to say much. As mentioned it`s always difficult when the subject has such a small amount of white marking on it, if anything I would have been tempted to either leave the exposure in the middle or applied a small amount of negative comp.
Click to expand...
Thank you Rich, I've added the 'RAW' above, thank you for the feed back I will take note (y)
 
K9Kirk said:
Decent shot I think, but yeah, the white. I've often felt that with my Tamron 150-600 I have to shoot on a bright day. Reason being, using high s.s. and a small aper in golden light just doesn't produce good results, there's just not enough light for decent exposure. Then again, the whites are the problem on the bright days as you mentioned, and I usually have to do a -2 step or more to keep the whites at bay. I think we can agree it's a tricky thing to do and get right.
Click to expand...
Thank you Kirk, I'm finding it tricky :LOL: thanks for the feed back (y)
 
Hi all

Sorry one more..

here's another while trying out EXP comp settings for the shot above, I thought I'd try lifting the shadows instead of taming the highlights

Happy to take C&C/thoughts on this


RedKite shadow lift by Gavin Wickham, on Flickr

RedKite shadow lift raw.jpg
 
Looks a little better Gav, afaik the barring on those two inner feathers do not go across the whole width of the feather, and as there are no other feathers overlapping them then you are always going to get it to look like they are blown out when a strong light is shining from above. Those two feather sections may look quite bright but it does not mean they are completely blown out. You also have to consider the subject distance and the limitations of the lens, it would be very hard for any piece of kit to show real detail in those circumstances. If it were a bird sat on a post 20 feet away and some of the whites were looking like that then maybe that would be cause for concern. Shooting directly below is never the best option in cases like this but appreciate we all sometimes take the shot just because it`s there :)
 
u8myufo said:
Looks a little better Gav, afaik the barring on those two inner feathers do not go across the whole width of the feather, and as there are no other feathers overlapping them then you are always going to get it to look like they are blown out when a strong light is shining from above. Those two feather sections may look quite bright but it does not mean they are completely blown out. You also have to consider the subject distance and the limitations of the lens, it would be very hard for any piece of kit to show real detail in those circumstances. If it were a bird sat on a post 20 feet away and some of the whites were looking like that then maybe that would be cause for concern. Shooting directly below is never the best option in cases like this but appreciate we all sometimes take the shot just because it`s there :)
Click to expand...
Hi Rich, I try these in flight shots as it's very flat here and very rare to see one low, so I just try to make the most of them flying over :LOL:
Thank you for taking the time to look and give feedback again (y) all understood and notes taken :)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top