Illinois Deer

[hw771230]

Hi all,

I started processing some photos from my trip across the country. I'm not too impressed so far, but that's the way it goes sometimes. I spent most of my time trying out my Tokina 400 f/5.6. I like the lens, but I now need to find a sturdier tripod. I think I had a lot of trouble with camera shake.

Here is a photo taken in a park in southern Illinois of a White-tailed deer. It was low light conditions and I shot it handheld. ISO 800, 1/100th, and f/8. It could be sharper, but I think it turned out alright using the lens handheld at such a slow shutter speed.

I cropped the image to nearly square to get rid of distractions on the sides, an applied the usual Levels, Curve and light use of unsharp mask.



Any comments welcome,

Caleb

[terryger]

don't be so hard on yourself! i think it came out nice i might have gone to 5.6 in that light but its still worked well! i am more impressed with aftermarket glass all the time!

well done!

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[rlcphotos]

great photo

[Bonish Photo]

I agree, dont be so hard on yourself. For hand held with a 400mm lens, that's a great shot!

Pat
http://www.everymilesamemory.com

[rlcphotos]

I agree,,, when I hand hold a 400mm I lose usually, I generally use a tripod where I can, but one cant always do that

[Walczak Photo]

I gotta go with most everyone else on this...nice shot! My only real negative comment is that it's a tad grainy...probably from the ISO 800. If it were me, I'd probably do some selective clean up...isolate the deer in the foreground then do some NR on just the background (that's where I'm noticing the noise the most). Otherwise, great shot!

Bright Blessings,
Jim

[hw771230]

Thanks everyone.

Jim,

I know the noise can be an issue. I am working on an efficient way to isolate the background and do some noise reduction, possibly with some blur to smmoth the texture.

Terry,

I did shoot a number of shots at f/5.6, I didn't like them so much because the DOF wasn't what I was looking for. Besides, with this lens the sharpness isn't as nice below f/8 and starts to fade again after about f/11. A narrow window. I am still getting used to this new glass, and loving it!

Again, Thanks,

Caleb

[Walczak Photo]

Thanks everyone.

Jim,

I know the noise can be an issue. I am working on an efficient way to isolate the background and do some noise reduction, possibly with some blur to smmoth the texture.

I'm not sure what program you're using, but if it's Photoshop or something comparible, what I would suggest doing is create a seperate layer (I usually do two so I can save the "background" as my backup), then just erase the stuff in the top layer that you don't want in the foreground. With this particular pic, it shouldn't be too hard at all as most of the deer's fur seems pretty smooth...not a lot of individual hairs of fur sticking up or anything. After that do your NR on the background layer. I don't even think it would need a full "blur", just crank up the NR without "preserve details" or "sharpen details" options and you should be able to take most of that out of there pretty quick. Also, your DOF is really nice so you don't want to add too much actual blur anyways. Either way you do the background though, just watch the edges of the foreground so you don't end up with a halo from the blur.

Using the eraser tool in this manner isn't nearly as fast as using the lasso tool, but personally I find it gives you much more precise control. This image of my folk's dog Lady was done in this manner. In the original, she had the big silver bumper of my dad's minivan "growing out her ears", so I ran out and took a quick shot of the fence in my backyard for the new background...



Talk about tedious? For the hairs on top of her head, I was actually working with the eraser tool at 2-3 pixels. Comparatively speaking, your deer shot above should be a piece of cake (no offence). BTW, before anyone mentions it, yes, I've already lightened her eye's in this shot...twice. Lady's eyes really are that dark! LOL!!!

If you already know all of this, please don't think I'm tryin to insult your intelligence...just tryin to help. Again your deer pic is a lovely shot and I really think it would be worth the extra effort. If ya have any questions, please feel free to ask...I've got a little experience with Photoshop and I'd be happy to help .

Bright Blessings,
Jim

[hw771230]

Jim,

Thanks for the info. When I get an extra hour or so I will crank up PS and do a bit of work. In this shot I am more worried about the grass in the foreground. It is in focus, too. The deer is cake to work around. I want to keep it under 20 minutes. For me, more than that it should have been shot better, but that's just me. I am not getting paid to sit in front of a computer. Or to take photo's for that matter.

I'll try to post an update of this and the egret tomorrow.

Caleb

[hw771230]

Here is my updated version of the Deer.

I took the same photo and made a copy of all the layers and did a very heavy nouse reduction and a light lens blur. With that layer on top I isolated to foreground and background as much as I could in about 20 minutes with a layer mask allowing the original layers show through...and then I used a gussian blur on the layer mask to help dissolve any borders between foreground, and background. TT 30 Min.



Was it worth it?

Caleb

[Walczak Photo]

Hey Caleb,
Yes, I'd say it was worth it . Even at this size on the monitor, I can see a big difference. The background does look much better to my eye. It does look like you did a little selective sharpening as well...I think I'm seeing some tiny white specles around the animals forehead and neck that don't look like they're there in the first image (at least not prominantly so). Could just be me though since I've only had 1 cup of coffee so far today! LOL!!! Still can't quite get the eyes focused yet... If you did do some sharpening, I think I would have done it to the eyes only really and left the fur as it was....just me though. If you didn't actually do any sharpening, then just ignore me and I'll go have another cup of coffee...

Anyways, again thats a wonderful pic! My wife and I both loved it .
Bright Blessings,
Jim