A somewhat startling example of a problem many bird photographers, including yours truly, like to bitch about – the daunting challenge of exposing black and white birds properly.
I’m not posting this shot because I think it’s a great image – it isn’t. But it’s unusual and I think it wonderfully illustrates the issues we face when trying to get a good exposure on the extreme contrasts of a black and white bird, or to a lesser degree any subject combining very light and very dark colors.
This image and this post may hold little interest for non photographers but I do like to cover similar subjects occasionally.
1/250, f/13, ISO 800, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS II USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in
The magpie was close, so close that this version of the photo is cropped relatively little (to about 75% of the original) and in my experience that’s unusual for a normally nervous and skittish magpie. I’m not even sure why I took some photos since I’m not big on head shots. I guess my photographer’s instincts took over.
I overexposed the blacks in camera so during processing I globally brought down the exposure to get them as close to right as I could. The magpie has its head scrunched down so all of the blacks of the neck and upper breast are compressed into what we see here and at this angle of view none of the other blacks of the body are visible.
So here’s what’s interesting. Notice that everything but the blacks have all but disappeared because they’re so severely overexposed and the background almost matches them. In fact all those white feathers did completely disappear in the original overexposed image where I couldn’t even see the shoulders and the white breast. For some tastes this might be an interesting photo if all the non-black parts of the bird were cloned out of the image but that’s just not my style.
When it comes right down to it I don’t think it was possible to expose all of this bird that’s in the frame properly in this light and with this background but the image illustrates the problem to an extreme so it’s a little easier to understand.
Softer light, all of the bird in the frame, a different background and not overexposing the blacks in the first place all may have helped with the overall exposure but even under optimal conditions high contrast birds are far from easy subjects to expose properly.
So you’re likely to continue to hear bitching about the difficulties of photographing them, at least from me.
Ron
I find this photo mesmerizing. Just something about the subtle transition from white feathers to background, no extraneous objects to distract, and just the dignity of the subject.
Hi Ron. You shared a photo of a Magpie you took recently and questioned the dark feathers where there should be. I think I know the answer. I follow a Magpie on Twitter. Someone had asked to see a photo when she was younger. Her caregiver posted one yesterday and she had the same dark wisps. So I think your bird may have been very young.
Aren’t you supposed to say, “Straightened up and fly right” or “ly straight?” …or something like thst???
Whatever works, but I haven’t found it yet.
Colour me fascinated.
So many things (some animate some not) like to mess with our minds and do it well that I really wonder how and why our species claims superior intelligence.
Glad you found it interesting, EC. But then you have such a wide variety of interests!
I am not a complete flibberty-gibbet. Really I am not.
So glad to hear that!!! I was worried for a while😇
Dear Magpies,
If you would be ever so kind as to choose your backgrounds with more care, I am sure the professor would appreciate it. You are beautiful creatures, but he cannot show you off in your best light if you continue to hunch your shoulders. So, sit up straight and mind the backgrounds.
Love
The Joy Seeker
Hear, hear!
As good as they get.
Thank you, James.
I love this portrait. All birds are beautiful and I like them all, however I think the black & white coloration is the most dramatic. Then in the right light the feathers become iridescent. The portrait shows a lot of determination or purpose. Great shot and sorry it bothers you.
Betty, it bothers me but I find the image intriguing too. Thank you.
Awesome shot Ron!
Charlotte
Thanks, Charlotte.
Great head shot! You are not the only one who bitches about poor light, washed out whites, terrible background, over exposed light colors, etc., etc.
I’ve gotten to the point now that I take what I can get and at the computer keep what few I can deal with. I try to deal with what I have some control over, which is not much. But, life is short and I’m already stressed about tomorrow, along with days of poor shooting weather, so a photography stress is well worth it!
Thanks for sharing, and I mean it! Your nuggets of wisdom and insight is terrific!
I think most of us do what you do, Dick. At least to a degree. Thanks very much for your last sentence because I’m always glad to know those “nuggets” of whatever they are are helpful.
My first reaction to this shot was that the background color is the issue. If the light had been warmer the whites would have shown up just fine. That said, I know approximately nothing about proper exposure techniques, and I am great at taking over-exposed photos. I actually like this head shot. It is a nice portrait, and a view one doesn’t often see of a Magpie.
You’re right, Susan. If the background had been significantly darker the exposure problem likely wouldn’t have been so pronounced.
Made me think of the wonderful “raven” masks made by the First Nations peoples of the Pacific northwest………..
Ahh, you’re right, Kris.
I really enjoy this magpie portrait, even with the bitching!
Thanks, Marty. If bitching helped I’d have a perfect image…
Ron: Mother Nature introduced magpies, black-crowned night herons, and other birds with similar coloration to challenge photographers. I know you try to avoid manipulating the images downloaded from your camera as much as possible. But this is a case in which your camera is doing a very poor job of capturing what you saw. When you were looking at the magpie, your perception of the bird had detail in both the whites and the darks. In such cases, I have no compunction about using photoshop to manipulate the image. A variety of methods can be used to try to transform the image into one that more closely resembles your perception of the bird when viewing it. Import it into photoshop and make two duplicate layers. Adjust the sliders for exposure, whites, highlights and blacks for one of the copies to bring out detail in the whites. Adjust the sliders in the other copy to bring out detail in the darks. Use a layer mask to combine the two. Or just try Image/Adjustments/Shadows_Highlights to bring some detail back into the white. There are plug-ins for photoshop that generate masks for different levels of luminosity. These allow separate adjustments to be made to the darks and light regions of the bird. But even these and other post-processing methods may not overcome the inability of modern cameras to fully cover the dynamic range of light being reflected from the magpie. Frustrating isn’t it?
“I have no compunction about using photoshop to manipulate the image”
Nor do I if I really need to for ptoper exposure, Dave. But those whites are so far gone they just don’t look good when I try to recover them. And I’ve given up on the shadows/highlight tool because it just causes too many problems unless used very sparingly.
Frustrating? Ya think??? 🙂
A portrait in black and white – beautifully done Ron.
Everett Sanborn, Prescott AZ
Thank you, Everett.
Fascinating portrait and wonderful detail. This shot demonstrates not just your photography skills, but also your skills in processing (and if we could be a fly on your wall, perhaps your skills in creative vocabulary as well 😱 ).
Thanks, Marty. Believe me, that fly’s “ears” would be burning…
A most interesting photo! The ‘fringing’ of the feathers around the neck on the white show the detail you would miss otherwise. On a lighter note it almost looks like a hood slipped over the head. Thanks for explaining the difficulties of getting this type of photo. I’ve run into this with RingNeck Pheasants on snow…the poor bird looks segmented! With my ‘jpegs only’, it’s something I lack the skill of and cannot really correct. I caught up with your photos and blogs of the past threes days after being on a quilting retreat I needed for my sanity. What a beautiful series you provided! All were terrific as usual!
Thanks for the kind words on those previous posts, Kathy.
Yes, pheasants on snow are a very tough exposure too. Feathers don’t come much whiter than the feathers of their neck ring.
I’d strongly encourage you to one day consider making the jump to shooting RAW. It really does make a big difference in your options and flexibility during processing.
Hear Hear! 😉 I KNOW that that’s all about in spades! 🙂 Have had more than a few “words” to say about those situations more than once. ;)It is funny with it’s head scrunched down – had you not said it was a magpie I’d have had to think about it for a bit!
I’m sure you and I share some of those sane words, Judy – especially with our Montana backgrounds. 🙂
Yes, that posture changes the overall look of a magpie.