I did manage to get one or two images that were worth enhancing (much as I hate doing so) in these cases by taking the "brightness" control as high as it would go! I've put them under the originals to show the adjustment.
Here's how not to take pictures of birds ...
1] Don't use the automatic "portrait" setting !
2] Don't confuse the focus setting with the exposure setting!
In the end, these ones were almost bearable!
It's a shame as these Red Kites were absolutely magnificent, and right over the house. They must be one of the most beautiful birds of prey in the world, surely!
You should see these on my rss feed reader! It has a white background and it looks like the bird is part of the page.
ReplyDeleteHi Conor, Hope you're having a good holiday. Yes, the background goes completely white if you just ramp up the brightness - I am sure there are more sphisticated ways to enhance the photos but the best way is to take them better in the first place!
ReplyDeleteWell if it makes you feel any better, what you have done is cut the image histogram in such a way that you have perfectly separated the clouds from the bird. You can do that with a bit more control over the final colours with the Levels tool in Photoshop, but it doesn't come out much different to what you've already done. You are right, taking the photo with exposure adjusted for the bird, rather than the clouds would be better! A bit tricky to do that with a moving target like this one. They are amazing photos, you will have to show me how you get these guys in frame.
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