Canada Birding Photography Locations & Reports

Text and Photography by Paul Janosi 

An image browser is an application that enables you to view digital photos. Some browsers also allow you to rename files, convert photos from one file format to another, add text descriptions, and more. I started using Nikon View when it was bundled with my first digital camera the Nikon D2H and I am still using it today as my image browser. For Nikon users there is a free download of the full version of Nikon View 6.2.7 for Windows here.

Based on personal preference, you could use Adobe bridge, or Breeze Browser, Digital Pro or what ever software was bundled with your camera.

I start my image editing by looking at my images in Nikon View.  The better your original image, the less work you have to do in PhotoShop.

Today compact flash cards are inexpensive, cameras are fast and computers no longer choke on big files.  This lets you shoot RAW or compressed RAW.
I shoot Compressed RAW as I can’t tell the difference between the two and the file size is only half the size.

I select the image in Nikon view.  It tells me all the pertinent camera settings. This image was shot with a Nikon D2X my second digital camera, lens VR 200-400 f4G, at 550 mm (This actually means I had a 1.4 teleconverter attached to the lens and the effective focal length is about 840 mm).  The ISO was 400; the metering was multi pattern 1/1000 sec at f8.  The white balance was on Auto.  The Auto focus mode was set to continuous.

The image was shot in Compressed RAW 12 bit.  RAW bestows you control over the image that isn’t possible with JPEG.

As you can see, the exposure is pretty much on.  For details on how to achieve proper exposure techniques, please refer to my article – Proper Exposure - Do It Right the First Time to be posted soon.

Once I decide that this is the file I want to work on, I right click on the image with the mouse and open it with Photoshop CS2 RAW converter.

, you’re dealing with the best data possible from your camera.  For that reason, you should make as many adjustments such as brightness, contrast and color to your image as possible in that converter.

A word of caution.  The automatic settings in Photoshop CS and CS2 don’t always work.  When Camera Raw is first opened in Adobe Photoshop CS2, all of the auto settings are turned on by default.

I highly recommend you unclick all of the auto settings, select your preferences, then choose Save New Camera Raw Defaults in the drop-down menu at the right side of the Settings box.

Check the preview box, above the image then go to the bottom left hand side and make sure show work flow option is ticked.

Select color space.  I use Adobe RGB 1998. Adobe RGB gives a wider color gamut, which can enhance many images.  I prefer to work in 16 bit / channel.

I start with the native file size that my camera produces by selecting the numbers without a plus or minus sign (plus means the file will be increased; minus will decrease the original).

I set the resolution at 300 DPI as that is the resolution I prefer for printing.

I like saturated images so I put the saturation slider on 15 as the default setting. This is a personal preference.  Many people leave this at 0 and adjust saturation later in Photoshop.
Always start with the same basic workflow. Tonal adjustments are made under the adjust tab - highlights first, shadows second and mid tones last. 

To set highlight levels use the threshold screen: Press and hold Alt /Option key and click and drag the exposure slider. The threshold screen shows as mostly black, as you move the slider, the bright or colored areas represent highlights. The white is pure white with no detail. Move the Exposure slider to the left to decrease and right to increase bright areas.  Adjust it until the whites just begin to appear in the blackness. This is subjective, toggling the Alt/Option key on and off lets you to see how these areas relate to the whole image.

To adjust the shadows: Press and hold down the Alt/ Option key and click on the slider to adjust the darkest part of the image. The image will turn white; adjust slider until you just start to see black. Move the Shadows slider to the right to increase dark areas, left to decrease. The black or colored areas represent shadows—the black is pure black with no detail. Toggling the Alt/Option key on and off lets you to see how these areas relate to the whole image.

The adjustments you made to the highlight and shadows usually will make the overall image too bright or dark. To correct this, move the brightness slider right or left. Don’t hold down any of the keys for this adjustment. Adjust to taste.

If you are using Photoshop CS2, you’ll notice a new tab called Curve. This is an excellent tool to deal with mid tones, with much more control than the brightness slider.

Curve works the same as Curves in Photoshop but it comes with some pre made adjustments that are located under the drop-down menu.
You can either use the pre made adjustments or you can tweak them or do everything yourself by clicking and dragging points on the curve.
Once you are happy with the results, you can straighten the horizon if necessary. Click on the straighten tool, click on the horizon and draw a line along the horizon.
You can re size the resultant cropped image and even select the crop   ratio- for instance 4×6 in this case.
When you made all the adjustments you wanted, click Open.  This step applies the settings on your photo as it converts it to the Photoshop working space.

If there are any blemishes in the image, dust on the sensor, unwanted or distracting pieces of grass, branches, what ever, use the healing brush or clone tool to remove them.
Photoshop CS2 has added a Spot Healing brush which is very simple to use to remove unwanted artifacts.

Press letter Z, the zoom tool, and zoom in on the area with the distraction you want to eliminate. You can get the spot healing brush from the Toolbox or simply press letter J. Position the spot healing brush directly over the spot you want to remove and click once.  The spot is gone!
I am a creature of habit and find my self preferring to use the Healing brush.
I select a brush size that is slightly larger than the blemish I am trying to remove.  I select the brush type- hard edge or soft edge and Alt / Option click in an adjacent clean area.
The clone tool is the third option. Choose the Clone stamp tool from the Toolbox.  Pick a soft edge brush from the brush tool box that is slightly larger than the blemish you want to remove. Use the master diameter slider to adjust the size you need.  Once you are working you can change the brush size up or down with the bracket keys.  Left bracket key makes brush size smaller, right bracket key makes brush size larger.

Find an area near the blemish that’s clean. Hold the Option / Alt key and click once.  This samples and matches the tone you selected.  Move your curser over the blemish and click once. Items like blade of grass or fine branches require painting with the brush.

Sharpening in Photoshop is not to make blurry or unsharp images sharp.  It is designed to bring out the sharpness in the original file.  It does this by enhancing contrast between light and dark areas and at edges.  Sharpening is done as the final step, once the image is processed and is at its final size. A 4×6 image requires different amounts of sharpening than an 8×10 image.

I prefer to use the smart sharpen tool for sharpening my pictures. This is a new sharpening filter in Photoshop CS2.  It does a remarkable job.
It does a better job of avoiding the color halos than the unsharp mask does.
It also lets you selectively sharpen as much or as little of the highlights and shadows as you want.
I also want to minimize adding noise to the image; therefore I apply selective sharpening to the areas that require sharpening.
I do this by selecting the area I want to sharpen with the lasso tool and then feathering its edge.  I do this because out of focus areas don’t require sharpening.  If you sharpen these areas, all you are doing is adding digital noise.
To select the Smart sharpen filter choose Filter, Sharpen, Smart sharpen.
The smart sharpen filter has two settings, basic and advanced.  I usually use the advanced setting.
Using the advanced setting allows me to limit how much sharpening I want to apply to the shadow and highlight areas.

Start by applying sharpening to the image. Select the Sharpen tab.  You can set amount, radius, and decide what type of blur you want to remove by selecting one of three default choices – Gaussian blur, lens blur or motion blur.
Gaussian blur- this is what I use mostly and does a great job of sharpening the overall image.
Lens blur: If your image is not focused as well as it should be, use this option.
Motion Blur: This option works well to remove any blur caused by camera movement during exposure. It has a clock like button with a horizon line in it.  Drag the line to an angle that counter acts the angle of the movement of the camera during exposure.
For a 4×6 image at 300 DPI my starting settings are:
Amount: 85
Radius:.5
Remove: Gaussian Blur
If more sharpening is required, I increase the amount from 85 to 115 while and the radius from .5 to .8 to 1.0.
I look at the effect of each of the settings at 100% magnification.

Once the overall or selected part of the image has been sharpened, click on the next tab Shadow.
Both Shadow and Highlight setting are the same.
Fade amount controls how much sharpness occurs in the shadow are highlight. When you drag the fade amount slider to the right, you are in effect reducing the amount of sharpening you already applied.
Tonal width determines the range of tones that are affected.  The higher number increases the range and the lower numbers decrease the range.
Radius, leave it at the default setting of 1.
Once I am happy with the Shadows, I click on the Highlight tab and repeat the steps.
Every photographer has his or her sharpening technique. There are books written about the different methods- Lab Color Sharpening, Luminosity sharpening,  Edge sharpening, Unsharp mask Filer, Smart Sharpen Filter.
Use the sharpening technique that works best for you.

I try to compose my images with a clean, simple back ground.  Using a long lens wide open is my starting point.  I use a Nikon VR 200-400 f4 lens with Nikon 1.4 X Teleconverter which yields an effective focal length is 840 mm at f5.6 Depending on the depth of field required, I may stop the lens down to f8 or even f11.

However the key to pure background is the proximity of the background to the subject and the angle of view of the lens. 

To render the foreground and background elements completely out of focus, photograph the subject at eye level. Lower your tripod to its minimum height or use a ground pod. The resulting image will have a sharp subject framed by swatches of color.

It is often said, that Photography is painting with light. Understanding light angle is critical.  I prefer full frontal lighting for birds.  I look at my shadow, and make sure it is pointing directly at the bird I am trying to photograph.

I prefer the warm early morning or late afternoon sunlight.  The quality of light is ideal about two hours after sunrise and two hours before sunset.

I wait to take the image until the bird turns its head such that the beak is slightly toward the image sensor plane and I can see the catch light in the eye.
Bird photography requires practice and patience. You will delete many more shots then you will keep, but that’s why we shoot digital.  For additional information on how to manipulate RAW files, I highly recommend you read Adobe Camera RAW for Digital Photographers by Rob Sheppard. http://www.robsheppardphoto.com/books.html
For those of you who have already converted to Photoshop CS3, I will post an article on Camera RAW and CS3 next weekend.  I hope to see you in the field or perhaps I will see you in one of my bird photography workshops. http://www.pauljanosi.com/

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