Practicing Editing - Would appreciate FB on WB & Cropping

[Brownbear]

I'm going through my photos and practicing editing... Below is a photo of a white egret that I took over a year ago that I especially like for the focus, detail, clarity and nice background. (blue sky) And I have a bunch of these

I changed the WB to auto (which made it warmer, ie; less blue) I think it works or is it too yellow?

I also cropped to be less centered because everyone seems to say that is better but I'm not so sure if it works for this one. Is it better cropped?







Thank you.

[geoz]

Great shot and the second crop is definitely very good and the WB works. Maybe a bit more space to the right if possible.

George

[Brownbear]

Thank you George. Good to hear about the WB... No more space on the right on this one but on others yes. May I ask why you like the crop? I'm following the rule of thirds and trying to think of lines but I'm finding the hows and whys of cropping not so specific to know, for sure.

Great shot and the second crop is definitely very good and the WB works. Maybe a bit more space to the right if possible.

George

[Otavio]

I'm following the rule of thirds and trying to think of lines but I'm finding the hows and whys of cropping not so specific to know, for sure.

Hi Christina! Nice shot!! Sorry for the intrusion on the above, but the rule of thirds is not absolute nor always mandatory. Specially for close ups, like yours, you might decide not to folow it. And I agree with George: Second crop is much better and a bit more space to the right of the beak would make it still better.

Again, the second is a GREAT image. Nice details, focus and WB (and it is SHARP ). Thanks for sharing...

[Brownbear]

Thank you Octavio. Not an intrusion at all, in fact very welcome. I know the rule of thirds is not set in stone but trying to figure out how all of you seem to always know, exactly where to crop and image..

[jprzybyla]

Hello Christina, I can show you what I would do easier than trying to explain. I imported your image into Lightroom 4. I set the white balance -20 which adds more blue making the feathers white. Then I opened the image in Photoshop Elements, under the Image menu I chose Resize and made the canvas larger so I had room to crop differently. I saved the image and opened it in Lighroom and tried different crops. I liked this the best it is a 16x9. Beautiful image, nice detail and colors. Go with the image when post processing. The bird is white, the feathers are white, why make them yellowish. Posted below is what I would do.



I just read your response to Otavio questioning how to crop. Your eye tells you, it looks right. Pleasing to the eye, what seems proportionately correct. A good way to learn to see it is to look at images by notable nature photographers, the more you look at will train you to see it.

[Brownbear]

Thank you Joe! Truly appreciated...

It looks more like the original now. you're correct the bird is white with white feathers.. I guess I thought the golden glow could be from the sun and I need to be careful while I'm learning to edit not to change things too much.

I like the crop a lot. Thank you. Very helpful... That said why did you choose that size? Simply by what looks best to you?

Hello Christina, I can show you what I would do easier than trying to explain. I imported your image into Lightroom 4. I set the white balance -20 which adds more blue making the feathers white. Then I opened the image in Photoshop Elements, under the Image menu I chose Resize and made the canvas larger so I had room to crop differently. I saved the image and opened it in Lighroom and tried different crops. I liked this the best it is a 16x9. Beautiful image, nice detail and colors. Go with the image when post processing. The bird is white, the feathers are white, why make them yellowish. Posted below is what I would do.

[jprzybyla]

Hi Christina, look at my response again under the image. There is an additional edit.

[Brownbear]

Thank you Joe... I will start looking and reviewing photos by notable nature photographers, more often...

Hi Christina, look at my response again under the image. There is an additional edit.

[Cantab]

I agree with what others have said, a great shot!

[Otavio]

...trying to figure out how all of you seem to always know, exactly where to crop and image..

And you did it well, Christina! Joe's edit shows what I proposed about more space to the right. It is still better now, IMO. He "created" this further space to the right, improving the image. As he mentioned, it is a question of training your eye. And when Joe said to look to notable nature phtographer's images, he forgot to mention that he is one of those guys!

[Brownbear]

Thank you Bruce and Octavio...

Octavio, yes I can see what Joe did to create extra space...

And I forgot to say to Joe, that there is one notable nature photographers photos that I look at all the time... Joe's! (yes, Joe your bird photos are my inspiration but I will look at others too, and figure out cropping)

Octavio, I'm also inspired by your bird photos and the photos of many others on this forum.

[geoz]

Nice to hear from Octavio who I am a fan of and I think has a great eye. Ultimately its your eye that decides.

I looked at it again from a technical view. In the first it looks like the space at the top and left are very heavy and not very useful. I have my own approach to cropping which looks at multiples. If you think of music notes, each is a multiple of a frequency. Your ear hears the pattern even if you're listening to the tune. Flat notes stand out. The rule of thirds is a two to one multiple. I look at multiples of space or shape when I crop, but no fast rule.

In your crop, the bottom edge of the the egrets neck matches the space to the left and is also about the height of the head. (You can probably take a bit more off the left without any impact.) The height of the bird's head matches the space above it. So you are repeating that pattern four times. The point of the beak divides the image into two. It looks like you put the eye on a third from the top. Also, not from the crop but, the inside edge of the bend in the neck is half the width of the neck and the space to the right of the neck is about three neck widths. These are all approximates.

In any case, its just one approach I use, especially with space, but not rigorously. There are others like angles and lines. And sometimes you want a discordant note just for fun.

[Brownbear]

Thank you George!

[nimitzbenedicto]

Hi Christina,

I like your images as is.

They are sharp, clear and pleasing to view.

White balance? I would trust more in you as the author/person-on-site as the best person to judge if your images' WBalance is spot on.

Somehow , I feel you are quite experienced as far as the technicalities are concerned and well-versed in post processing. Perhaps, referring to viewers' CnC for reference purposes and to reflect on their personal choices of cropping/WB/etc. for comparison/guidance.

Awaiting more ......

Have a nice day............

[Brownbear]

Thank you Victor.

I appreciate your comments and feedback. I do think the WB in my edit is nice but as someone who is keen on nature photography I agree with Joe and would like to represent my subjects true to nature.

With respect to editing, I'm now comfortable with the basics but I have a long ways to go and a lot to learn. This was a simple shot, pretty much as is out of camera. No doubt you will see this later when I post a photo that I've edited that needs work, ie; distracting backgrounds etc..

Hi Christina,

I like your images as is.

They are sharp, clear and pleasing to view.

White balance? I would trust more in you as the author/person-on-site as the best person to judge if your images' WBalance is spot on.

Somehow , I feel you are quite experienced as far as the technicalities are concerned and well-versed in post processing. Perhaps, referring to viewers' CnC for reference purposes and to reflect on their personal choices of cropping/WB/etc. for comparison/guidance.

Awaiting more ......

Have a nice day............