Mute swans

[islandseas]

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/islandseas/2322561209/" title="Mute swans (by islandseas)"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3092/2322561209_760f6a7ce0.jpg" title="Mute swans (by islandseas)" alt="Mute swans (by islandseas)" width="500" height="333" /></a> (http://digital-photography-school.com/forum/%3Ca%20href=)

I love to take pictures of the mute swans out at the Lagoon but I have trouble with their bright white feathers. I get them white but lose the definition of the individual feathers. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

(http://digital-photography-school.com/forum/%5B/IMG%5Dhttp://farm4.static.flickr.com/3092/2322561209_760f6a7ce0.jpg)<table id="Inbox" cellspacing="0" width="100%"><tbody><tr><td style="font-size: 120%;" width="30%">Camera:</td><td style="font-size: 120%;">Canon EOS Digital Rebel XT (http://www.flickr.com/cameras/canon/eos_digital_rebel_xt/)</td></tr><tr><td style="font-size: 120%;" width="30%">Exposure:</td><td style="font-size: 120%;">0.003 sec (1/350)</td></tr><tr><td style="font-size: 120%;" width="30%">Aperture:</td><td style="font-size: 120%;">f/9.5</td></tr><tr><td style="font-size: 120%;" width="30%">Focal Length:</td><td style="font-size: 120%;">70 mm</td></tr><tr><td>ISO Speed:</td><td>200</td></tr><tr><td>Exposure Bias:</td><td>0/2 EV</td></tr></tbody></table>

[NikonnooB]

Hi. I was having a similar problem with white feathers against a dark water background. You may benefit from some of the critique and help I got on (click this) (http://digital-photography-school.com/forum/showthread.php?t=12968) thread.

Are you shooting in RAW? If so, there's a really helpful setting for retrieving blown out highlights in the Adobe Camera Raw dialog box. It's called "Recovery", and it's a slider designed just for that purpose. Thing is, it's necessary to have your image just a bit underexposed, so that there's still some detail in the feathers to retrieve.

I used it in combination with several suggestions I'd received to do just the improvement you're asking about. Hope it helps.

[islandseas]

Thanks NikonnooB. I took a look at the thread you listed. I have just been shooting large jpegs. Guess I'll have to try shooting RAW and try my hand at converting them. I have never loaded my Canon software for RAW but will give it a try. I do have access to Photoshop at work so I could a couple images there.

Karen

[NikonnooB]

Actually, if you have the CS3 version of Photoshop at work, you can set your Camera Raw preferences to handle jpegs, too. Of course, you're giving it less information to work with, but there's still some pretty cool capabilities for jpegs.

I don't work with Canon, and haven't seen their software, but I have to assume they have some kind of tool to do the same kind of adjustment.

Thing I've been noticing is that it seems easier to bring back detail from underexposed shadows than from overexposed highlights. I really haven't seen any confirmation on that from outside, but it seems true for my images. Seeing as it's more important to see the range of tones in the bird, and the water is..... well.... just water, I've been trying to underexpose these kinds of shots more, so I have more leeway to work with them.

[islandseas]

I think we do have that version. I was wondering about underexposing. Someone suggested putting the exposure compensation metre to 1/3-1/2 stop underexposed all the time. I might try that this weekend. I only get out there on the weekends but now that the evenings are lighter longer I might be able to try one evening and try it in different light. Thanks for the help.

Karen