Kingfisher Shot

[scaly_piscine]

Took this and a load of other kingfisher photos today (virtually all of them have leaves/branches in the way unfortunately - even this one has a leaf just edging into the body of the kingfisher). That one is shrunk to 80% of actual size as well as obviously being cropped a lot tighter than I would do normally (the rest of the original is just more leaves and branches).

I wondered what exactly adjustments to do with it, particularly in terms of colour. When I first looked at the photo on the camera itself and on the computer I thought the kingfisher looked a bit pale and green, but it looks different on the other two monitors I've viewed it on - particularly my ancient CRT monitor where the colours look much more vibrant and kingfisher like.

[Billy Wobble Dagger]

I dont think you should worry about the background, It's a fantastic photo.

BWD

[Hammer54]

I agree its a great photo, on my screen it looks a little under exposed though. Have you had a tinker with it in Photoshop at all yet?

[scaly_piscine]

I've not done anything with it in Photoshop yet, I'm fairly useless with it other than correcting chromatic aberration (used to use a compact camera with 18x zoom - which produces some truly brutal fringing, not much use here). I tend to just toggle with the auto levels/contrast back and forth to see what might be wrong. As I say for that one it looked a bit pale, green and flat. Maybe needs more contrast, then after that would maybe brighten it up. But when it comes to me actually doing those processes properly I'm a novice.

[Cazzie]

Crikey you had me going there with your title - I thought a kingfisher had been shot!!!

Phew!

I think it's a fab picture - well done you!

[Cazzie]

Couldn't resist a fiddle with Picture Manager....



Better???

Picture Manager is part of Microsoft Office if you've got it?

[glsammy]

Here's my quick adjustment.



Always a problems working with such a small image, working form your original image would achieve much better results.
What I did was a boost in contrast and saturation, plus remove some background noise with neat image.

[Maccattack1]

Nice adjustments , I've found noise reduction with other programs realy useful also.
Noise ninja is another common one worth trying.
The leaf in the background won't go easily , you could try gaussian blur if you get more adventurous with photoshop .You can try to shoot with a wider aperture to blur the background.
Good kingfisher shot well done.
Malcolm

[Rob T]

This is a very good photo but dont be to dissapointed if the bird isnt as bright as it could be as its a youngster (short white tipped bill and black feet) and they will usually be duller than the adults for a while yet.

However all the above points are valid for enhancing images, also you can clck on several photo image sites and quickly calibrate your pc screens so they all produce a simular colour and contrast.

I used to produce images a bit too bright and with too much colour when veiwed elswhere then realised my screen was set a bit too flat. Maybe thats why you are getting different results from different screens.

Regards
Rob

[scaly_piscine]

Yea makes sense that it's a youngster. Today I was checking on the same spot, one flew off as I peered over, I was just focusing on another when that flew off then finally about a minute later one more emerged from the same area (didn't see where specifically) and tittled off. Hung around there for a while and a couple more flybys before one seemed to stop underneath me. Have seen two fly off together before, but not three. I've flattened some of the nettles down so if another chance arises I can sneak across a bit and have less problems with branches blocking things.

I increased the contrast/saturation by about 15, seemed to improve things a fair bit. Unfortunately I don't have a noise reduction program, will have to think about whether it is worth splashing out on one. Not really knowledgeable on them but I like taking high speed shots, also use the camera indoors every now and then mostly at Scrabble tournaments - so it would certainly see some use at least.