But sometimes I can put myself in a position where a 'save' is needed. Happens more than one would think.
When I arrived at the Refuge last weekend, the first thing I did is take a test shot or two to get my settings close to what I need. Usually I don't have to make many changes after that during the visit. And this time I followed the process. And it worked until...
On entrance to the park, the first chance at wildlife is driving north. The wildlife is usually on the right, east. Into the morning sun. Birds in the trees at his point early in the morning are not a good shot. But I was there well after sunrise and this wasn't an issue. But with the storm passing, the sun still wasn't in a favorable position and created a very flat sky. Welcome to mid-Michigan. But the Juvie in the trees like this is not something witnessed every day. Got to make it work.
Usually, this isn't a problem. Until it is.
A copy of the original RAW image:
That's a mess.
Forensic photography indicates the light is bad, the sky is flat and worst of all the EV was set at -1. A holdover setting from the previous week. The camera was metered on an unusually dark bird, in darker than normal light with an EV of -1. It ain't the camera's fault.
But what is life without a challenge?
To save the image, I need to lighten the subject, the trees and try to get some definition in the sky.
First, to lighten the bird is easy. ACR does a good job. But when the bird is lightened the sky looks worse, if possible. After a while, playing around with the settings I determined that the bird was worth saving but the sky had to go.
To split the sky from the bird, I usually turn away from PS. I've been a big fan of the Topaz AI products lately and I planned to use their Mask program. I tried for an hour to get that to work without success. I've used it before on simple photos. This should be simple, the sky is one colored. Match the color, press a button and the sky should be erased. Didn't work that way. So turned to On One.
The On One masking is simple, fast, intuitive and it works. I used On One a number of years ago but found their software with each passing 'upgrade' put more of a load on my PC. I've upgraded to a PC built for photography, and I tried the application the day after I fired the PC up. And it still did not work well. There were some other issues that I would call personal issues that moved me on to Topaz.
The one aspect of On One that I liked in the past was their masking process. That was going to save this image.
The bird is wet, after the passing storm. Feathers are everywhere. Not an easy mask.
I was able to remove the image sky in less than five minutes.
One of the personal issues I have with On One is the file management. It took longer to get a file that PS liked than it did to remove the sky. Again, what is life without a challenge?
Then I needed to find a sky that wasn't too different from the original, but had some definition. One thing I'm in the habit of doing is taking plain sky shots. I like to get a lot of clouds in the shots. I'm sure I can find something that will be a close match. And I think I did.
In the end, this is what I came up with.
Post Storm Juvie
NIKON D500 Ver.1.20/200.0-500.0 mm f/5.6
720 mm, 1/1000 sec, f/5.6, ISO 160 (AUTO)
EV -1, MANUAL Mode, Size DX
That bird was still drenched, as was its buddies in nearby trees. I might have added a bit more light than was there, but the wet feathers on the wing and body is something you don't see every day. Usually the birds are a nice brown and fluffy all the way around.
And most importantly, this photo has an element that seems to be my trademark. A branch in the way of a subject. Its removal would be the next project.
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