This shot was taken a few years ago at Tiger Tail beach in Marco Island (adjacent to Naples), Florida. The original looks quite soft because it is a screen shot enlarged right from Bridge. These birds were really too far away but I thought since it was an action pic I would give it a try. First, I went into Camera Raw to balance out the lights and darks and adjust the contrast and vibrance. Next (after opening up in PS5), I cloned the bird on the left over toward the right to heighten the sense of drama and then leveled out the horizon. I then went into On1 FX8 to bring out the details as much as I could without over doing it. As I say, the action was too far away but I think I came up with an acceptable final image ??“ not sure that I would enter it in a competition, though. Shot with my Nikon D500 and 70-300 mm lens with a shutter speed of 1/2000. Since it was such a bright day I'm sure the ISO was down around 100.
4 comments posted
Bruce Benson
Jerry, great job of getting the most out of this far away scene. You got good details on the left side bird, and acceptable on the right. The action makes up for any weakness in image quality. I have a very similar image taken at Black Point Drive Merritt Island NWR. Bruce Posted: 01/07/2025 22:11:34
Steve Cole
Jerry ... great capture and processing. Very appealing and attention grabbing photo. Thank goodness we have cameras today shooting many frames per second and resolution which allows cropping when one is not on top of subject but the "eye" of the photographer is still the most important as you have demonstrated in all of your posts. Posted: 01/08/2025 13:32:50
Adrian Binney
Jerry - impressive PP work! A good action shot! There seems good detail, especially in the head of the right bird and left one. Well done. Posted: 01/14/2025 19:38:23
Cindy Marple
Quite a lot of drama going on here- as often happens with Snowies. They can be such fun to photograph interacting.
Nice work on your edits to make the most of the capture. Posted: 01/21/2025 00:24:55
