Blizzard Bird (Not from Dairy Queen)

[FocalFrenzy]

I took this shot on 03-08-08 durring a blizzard that blanketed central Ohio with between 12 -20 inches of snow. I was sitting in a hunting blind to protect my camera from the wind and snow. My camera was set to "Manual", however with the high winds, I was unable to use two hands to stabilize the camera. The wind kept trying to blow my blind away, so I had to use one hand to hold it down. I didn't have my tripod with me, as being stranded out of town, had not been planned for. I was just glad that I had my camera. My main question for critique is, how do I get decent catchlights on a birds eyes, when using the zoom on my camera? I tried several different shots with the flash forced, but still lacked the results I wanted. My Sony DSC-H1 does not have any adjustment for flash intensity. Will I have to depend on post processing to get catchlights at a distance? Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks.
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/21002727@N06/2321770797/" title="3-08-08 036b by FocalFrenzy, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2171/2321770797_ab811886c4.jpg" width="500" height="409" alt="3-08-08 036b" /></a>
Camera: Sony DSC-H1
Exposure: 0.003 sec (1/400)
Aperture: f/4
Focal Length: 72 mm
ISO Speed: 64
Exposure Bias: 0/10 EV
Flash: Flash did not fire

Orientation: Horizontal (normal)
X-Resolution: 72 dpi
Y-Resolution: 72 dpi
Date and Time: 2008:03:08 14:06:50

[prrs4me]

Can't help you with catchlights but I love the photo. The cardinal's colors are perfect as is the focus. I like the snow whistling past him too. Nice.

[FocalFrenzy]

prrs4me,
Thank you for your comments. I have yet to try any post work on this, as I'm holding out for suggestions from some of the more qualified "Post" workers on this forum. I'm actually very pleased with all aspects of this shot except the catchlights. I'm currently using it as my wallpaper.

[commongrackle]

This is one of my most favourite birds to see...out of nowhere, this wonderfully bright flash of colour! I LOVE your photo! I love the bluish-greenish-greyish background and the way the bird stands out so nicely.

I've not ventured so much as a toe outside since the "blizzard". I'm here in Ohio, too. Someone let me know when it's Spring, will ya? LOL

[windrider86]

that might be tough one to accomplish, at least you are gonna have to take a ton of pictures before you finally get the right lighting and the right angle and the right............
Theother option is to manually put them. how are you at photoshopping?
With all that being said this is a beautiful catch as it is. The colors on the bird in contrast with the background look great to me.

[RussHeath]

FocalFrenzy -- Ditto what the others said about color and composition. Really a catching photo.

About the catchlights:

Getting them naturally is tough with the type of lighting you had for this shot. Popping your on camera flash can sometimes surprise you, as only a very tiny amount of flash needs to reach the bird for the direct reflection of it to be visible in the eye. Pro bird photographers with DSLRs use large flashes with flash extenders mounted to get the flash out there (Google "Better Beamer").

Looking at the large one on flickr, you can at least see the outline of the eye. That's the first step. I tried to bring back some color to this one, but it looked un-natural. So I used the brightness and contrast cranked way up to see where the natural catchlight would be, and I painted in a few pixels worth of white at about 40% opacity in that location. Less is more. Then I dodged the shadows of the rim of the orbit at about 15% to bring it out just a little. Not great, but I think it's a subtle improvement.

When there is more color to work with, you can do a more complex process involving hue/saturation adjustments with the "colorize" box checked. (See this one (http://www.flickr.com/photos/russheath/2239014861/in/set-72157601425558328/) for an example).

Again, great shot and thanks for sharing!

[peeperita]

when i saw your repost about photoshop tips for this image, i thought.....hey, what improvement is needed?.....

none.....it is a lovely capture with no room for editing improvement.....

russ did an admirable job looking for and trying to recreate catchlights....but, the improvement to your photo is minimal......

you should be so proud.....

peeper

[FocalFrenzy]

Thanks everyone for your kind comments. Russ, I like what you did to recreate the catchlights in your edit. I'm using GIMP, and I've not figured out all of the tricks yet. I've heard of the "Better Beamer", but my camera doesn't have a hot shoe for external flash usage. I'm pretty much stuck with the onboard until I upgrade. Thanks for all of the advice.

[netbymatt]

Sorry, I can't help much with the catchlight issue either. I did want to compliment you on a great photo, however.

That must have been some wind, 1/400th and the snow is still leaving a motion blur behind it...

[FocalFrenzy]

The wind was gusting 26-30 mph. That's why I had to use one hand (and both feet), to hold down the hunting blind. At least the temperature was not so bad. I think around 33 degrees F. There was sleet mixed in with the snow. Altogether, a fun shoot! I'm glad I did it, and I'm glad some of the shots turned out to be worth the effort. Thanks.