Photo critique-eagle (1 Viewer)

[OK_Scissortail]

Here are some photos to critique. I had lots of Unfortunate circumstances like shadowing, bright sunlight that I could not get it behind me due to chain link fence, and the usual white out of color white in the light given. I had to play with my settings quite a bit to problems with exposure. I was starting to get frustrated with finding an aperture setting that didn't bleach out background etc. One shot below is in auto setting the rest are on AV mode. I will try and list the settings below. Canon 450D rebel with 70-300 5.6 IS USM lens.

First photo information
This is the only one done on Auto setting. TV 1/200, av 7.1 , ISO 400, FL 105.0MM

Second photo
Shooting mode AE/av
TV 1/160
AV 7.1
ISO 400
FL 70.0mm

Third Photo
Shotting mode Ae/av
TV 1/200
AV 10.0
ISO 400
FL 270.0 mm

Fourth Photo
AV 7.1 Shooting mode AE
TV 1/800
ISO 400
FL 300.0mm maxed out

I really don't care for photo 4 as much as I do the others, too much shadowing I think.
With all said above, knowing the surroundings, shooting through a chain link etc, how are these photos and where could I improve? Are any of these okay for gallery? Thank you.

 

[OK_Scissortail]

I forgot to mention the Eagle was seen at a Nature Center. It was brought there injured from flying into a power line. A veterinary did surgery on it, it only has half a wing one side so the Nature Center takes care of the Eagle. The Eagle is now 20 years old. It was great to see such a beautiful bird up close.
I figured I would never be this close to an Eagle out in the wild so took what shots I could get. I do have Eagle Tours planned for the upcoming months to hope to see one in the wild and photograph. Thought I had better explain why the Bird was in captivity.

 

[OK_Scissortail]

I'll take a shot a critiquing my own here and anyone can add, agree, or disagree.

Photo one- Over sharpened, front and side of head shadowed, bright morning sunlight clashing with white on back of head. Photo could b e clearer.

Photo Two-like the pose of bird, shadow and background takes away from photo and shadow streak from fence across bird shoulder also takes away. Lower shutter speed to catch more detail.

Photo Three-head should had been facing me more to catch both eyes well, shadowing and bright light on white, lower shutter speed to catch more detail.

Photo Four- shadowing and needs more detail in feathers, possible lower shutter speed.

My problem with doing these photos again is timing. If done in evening the sun will shining directly in front of me. In morning I have the problems listed above, in Mid Day the sun will be slightly over top covering of pen to have more shadows. It seems like no time is good except that I go right at sunrise and um they aren't open at that time. Taking a tripod with me may help get a more clearer more focused photo.

 

[JohnZ]

Personally I like the fourth shot. Very nice mate.

 

[OK_Scissortail]

Thank you John, appreciate your kind words.

I'll consider the fourth photo too.

 

[keithyed]

Must say I like pic 3 the most.
has a great eagle type expression ( saying something like I could just about eat you)
is a pity only the head there tho would have liked to have more of the body.
Eyes are nice and sharp head feathers are in great detail. Very nice pic mate.
thanks
keith

 

[Harold Stiver]

I think your 4th photo is very useable despite the harsh light. You might consider the following.

Try to bring out more of the detail in the white plumage. If you shot in RAW, you may be able to do this in the conversion. Otherwise, if you have the Shadow/Highlight command in Photoshop you can use, try highlights=20 with shadow set a 0. If you don't have a version with this command, but you have the curves command, you can use it by setting the white point with the right hand eyedropper.

You might also blur the background to get rid of the fence. Here is a tutorial on it:

Creating a Background Blur

Of course, you want to try these experiments on a copy of your file rather than the original.

Good luck, Harold

 

[OK_Scissortail]

Thank you Keith, thanks for commenting on the photo. Appreciate your imput. I noticed the Eagle really has many different looks surprisingly. It can have inquisitive look, the prestigious look and with the head cocked at different angles it can give off a seriousness or even a don't mess with me. Sometimes the eyes appear like bearing down on something, intent, then in a flash appear soft. Amazing all the expressions I saw with one short visit.

Harold, thank you for the suggestions on improving the photos. I'll look at my program (PhotoImpact) and see if I can do any of that, sounds great! If not I'll see if I can get the program. I didn't know I could blur the background with a photo program..cool! Hope it is fairly easy to do.

 

[psilo]

Great photos but for me they are all cropped in too tight. A bird of this stature and majesty needs room to breath. He was a wild bird but the tight cropping makes him look more caged in than ever. Try using the rule of thirds a little to start with. The head s hot in particular would have looked good with a third more space to look into. Cerates more atmosphere and the view wonders what the bird is looking at. Try leaving more space around the bird when shooting too. As suggested blurring out the background give s a more natural feel.

 

[OK_Scissortail]

Thank you Psilo, on some I may be able to do over with cropping, others I may not be able too with taking the shot too close. I'll give a try tomorrow, today a Holiday and leaving soon, so will get back with you on the new photos. Thanks for the tips.

 

[TBMike]

Excellent photos overall! Good detail !


#1 is the impossible shot. White head in sun and dark body in shade. It would take a merge of two exposures. Fill flash could possibly help.
#2 has a nasty shadow across back that will be difficult to do anything with.
Again maybe fill flash.
#3 and #4 are most spectacular but cropped a little too tightly as suggested.

I think its time for you to learn techniques for dealing with and/or removing those very distracting backgrounds. ( Maybe better software?) Open up aperture to blur background (may not be possible in this setting).

Hope this helps!

Keep shooting.

Mike

 

[OK_Scissortail]

Thank you Mike, so higher aperture will blur the background more? I went back again after Jan 1st of this year and took the shot below. See if I improved on watching for distractions and anything else you see that I need to improve. Really wanting to get this down so I can take nice photos. Very hard to get a nice full shot of this Eagle since he is injured and the pen well it is a pen and not in the wild. Seeing lots of eagles in the wild so hoping at some time I'll have a chance for a close full body photo.

I'm open to advice from anyone. Thanks

Photo 2, I played with my Photo Impact to get rid of the light fence shadow across the head. Quickie job but maybe improved photo some?

 

[psilo]

HI Scissortails, Two lovely compositions you have created there.
As far as exposure goes a smaller wider aperture will give you a more blurred background though it largely depends on the size of bird and the dof. The closer the background is to the bird the more detail will be retained and vice versa. Looking at these images I get a somewhat stilted feel almost as if the eagle is having his mugshot taken lol This is a magnificent animal. Those eyes are so intense. I would love to see apose that reflects that more. Much improved though. You have done a great job :t:

 

[OK_Scissortail]

Thank you Psilo, always good hearing from you. I'll get to work on your suggestions you gave. I agree it does look like a mug shot..lol. The pen the Eagle is in really doesn't give me a lot of room to play with but hopefully I'll get lucky and get a nice shot of one in the wild.

Thanks again,

 

[psilo]

Scissortail it really doesnt take much. Even a slight tilt of the head with the eyes looking straight at the viewer would express more power than just straight ahead. Often it is small adjustments and a little bit of thinking that can make all the difference to the final composition. With a close up portrait of an eagle it is the beak and eyes that really symbolise this bird so concentrate on those and produce something just alittle bit different.

 

[OK_Scissortail]

Thanks Psilo.

Went out this morning to take a few shots of the Eagles at the dam but was very cloudy and Winter looking out. Nice shots but a tad dark. Sun is out now so maybe I'll get another chance later today with better conditions.