A family of Ruru- a missed opportunity...

[FlyingKiwiGirl]

This is a very rare sight, a family of Ruru (Morepork- NZ native owl), a parent on the right and two fledglings, the other parent is tucked behind the left hand chick. They obviously got too big for the nest and it was a very hot day. I came across the family while exploring a native bird island sanctuary and having very little knowledge of how to take the best shot this is what I got. There is also a photo using the flash in my link below but as you can imagine the owl's eyes caused a problem.

Now that I know a little more, should I have metered off an owl's body, outside of the bush it was very bright? I'm afraid a little knowledge is also going to be dangerous for me as now that I have learnt a few things I want to try them all out together.
I'm also very new to Photoshop Elements but could I fix this in PS? Any help will be much appreciated.



Exif-
Sony DSLR- A350
f/5.6
1/60
ISO 400


Birds - a set on Flickr

[frisby]

I wonder if flash set to red eye would have helped?

The bush is a bit of a tricky one as the light is so contrasting. If you meter off the owl's body the background highlights will get blown. You need a strong background like the one you had with the Toutouwai ;-) as part of good composition.

You could try using 'fill' light in Elements but I think it'll still be a bit tricky to rescue.

Ruru are cool. :-)

[FlyingKiwiGirl]

Originally Posted by frisby

I wonder if flash set to red eye would have helped?

The bush is a bit of a tricky one as the light is so contrasting. If you meter off the owl's body the background highlights will get blown. You need a strong background like the one you had with the Toutouwai ;-) as part of good composition.

You could try using 'fill' light in Elements but I think it'll still be a bit tricky to rescue.

Ruru are cool. :-)

Touché frisby! Toutouwai does sound so much better but I'm afraid by the time I've said "Quick, there's a toutouwai" I will have missed the shot or the person looking will still be thinking "what the heck's a toutouwai" But from now on it's going to be a toutouwai. Tell me, what are black robins called in Maori? And I'm afraid it's always going to be a fantail to me, they have an awfully long name to pronounce for a tiny wee bird.

Thanks for the tips, I'll try the red eye flash on my next next trial shots.
By the way you have some great bird photos and thankyou very much for the "small & twitchy" information another member passed onto me. Great job(volunteer) too!

[frisby]

> what are black robins called in Māori?

Well there's a question. Haven't found anything online or off that says I'm afraid.

Ta for the feedback BTW.

Happy shooting.

F

[NgaiHill]

Nice shot. I realised when I saw this that I've never seen these guys in the flesh before - only ever heard them! You are so lucky, I'm jealous

[FlyingKiwiGirl]

Thanks for the comment NgaiHill but I'm really disappointed I didn't get a better shot of them. I've seen adults flying during the day a few times over the years, once one landed in a tree beside our 2nd storey deck and stayed there all day until dusk (just a couple of metres from our faces) before flying off again. I suspect it didn't make it home to it's day time roost in time and took the closest option. It looked very dopey until the sun went down. And I've had them fly past with barely a noise while tramping in the bush in Hawkes Bay.

Frisby, how about ngārahu toutouwai!

[frisby]

ngārahu toutouwai you say? Excellent. Where did you find that out? New sources are always good.

[FlyingKiwiGirl]

Originally Posted by frisby

ngārahu toutouwai you say? Excellent. Where did you find that out? New sources are always good.

I made it up.....ngārahu = to be sooty black, so I thought why not?

[frisby]

You made it up!!!!

Just be careful the taniwha doesn't get you next time your out. ;-)

[Chip]

Does Photoshop Elements have a "dodge" tool - one that lets you lighten certain parts of a photo? If so, that tool might let you lighten the birds while keeping the background at the same brightness.

Maybe make a copy or 2 of your "master" photo, and then play around with the dodge tool on your copies? Just like with any post-processing, the more you use the dodge tool, the better you get and the easier it gets.

Good luck.