BIF & flat blue skies, do they work for you?

[ootanaboot]

Thank you all for your input and support.

I'll try and respond in the order of your posts.

@nzmacro

Swallow, of course, thanks for clarifying my back of the mind thought.

@nzmacro/RichDitch
- I think if the subject nearly fills, or we can crop in so it does fill in the frame, then it works with just blue skies/I agree about the ratio of subject to plain blue sky.

I rarely get a shot where filling the frame becomes the case and retain detail. And I think that's part of my problem. Maybe a lot is the way I approach the situation. I normally am the guy that walks around and spots opportunity, instead of setting up in a spot and waiting for them to come to me (bigger lens, tripod, lower iso, and a chair :-D).

In regard to cropping, as a rule, I don't like cropping much. I see the original detail being eaten away so I shy away from doing that. Also, I tend to like and prefer shots that include some environment so when it comes to these kind of shots, bif + flat sky, I see no environment. Maybe this is my biggest personal issue.

@ray

Thank you

@cjf/nzmacro
- it is hard to get the actual shade of blue looking right/I change the shades of blue quite often for sure

Glad to hear it's not just me then. I'm always tweaking the sky colour because it just seems a bit off. Initially, what I do is ignore the lightness of the sky and just concentrate on getting the subject looking close to being the right balance, then saturate and/or shift colour tone of the sky. My image in this post worked out ok to start with in that respect, I only did a tiny overall saturation increase.

all

 

[Blufftonian]

I too will sometimes mask around an eye and increase the exposure and/or vibrancy a little but I do it minimally. I also would never put clouds in there. Well, not for nature shots but if I was trying to sell my house and taking photos of it, a dramatic sky might find its way in there.

My biggest problem with flat blue skies is probably metering. Many of the birds I see are almost pure white (like egrets) and many are very dark (juvenile eagles) and capturing feather detail can be tough. At least for a bird like an osprey it's not so bad.

 

[nzmacro]

I too will sometimes mask around an eye and increase the exposure and/or vibrancy a little but I do it minimally. I also would never put clouds in there. Well, not for nature shots but if I was trying to sell my house and taking photos of it, a dramatic sky might find its way in there.

My biggest problem with flat blue skies is probably metering. Many of the birds I see are almost pure white (like egrets) and many are very dark (juvenile eagles) and capturing feather detail can be tough. At least for a bird like an osprey it's not so bad.

View attachment 9461

Superb shot! The wing position and details would be hard to beat ...... nice eye as well

Danny.

 

[Blufftonian]

Superb shot! The wing position and details would be hard to beat ...... nice eye as well

Danny.

Thank you Danny. I particularly like your Swamp Harrier shots.

It's a shame my osprey didn't have a fish in its talons!

 

[nzmacro]

Hmmm, adding clouds. Like I said I've tried it a few times, but somehow every time I look at them I cringe. It just doesn't look right and it certainly doesn't feel right.

I do have a few samples though in a folder, so I'll post a couple up. They are all just plain blue skies though.

There are places you might be able to get away with it, but there is no way you could get away with it in your own head space! I've seen some posted up where the person has no idea how to adjust it properly and there are a lot of adjustments you can make. Those that just use the default settings, please give me a break

So no matter what, these don't get ,posted, this is the first time and it will be the last. I printed one off and it's impressive with what we can do with software these days, but they just are NOT REAL! ........ THEY ARE FAKE.

Danny.

 

[ootanaboot]

but there is no way you could get away with it in your own head space!

haha. I've tried and felt very unclean attempting it. :shudder: lol

 

[raythentic]

Hmmm, adding clouds. Like I said I've tried it a few times, but somehow every time I look at them I cringe. It just doesn't look right and it certainly doesn't feel right.

I do have a few samples though in a folder, so I'll post a couple up. They are all just plain blue skies though.

Impressive stuff Danny, you could have fooled me with those easily. I feel the same about adding objects though, you can fool the world but never yourself.

 

[nzmacro]

you can fool the world but never yourself.

And there's the answer right there Ray. Exactly it.

Danny.

 

[DrLex]

So no matter what, these don't get ,posted, this is the first time and it will be the last. I printed one off and it's impressive with what we can do with software these days, but they just are NOT REAL! ........ THEY ARE FAKE.

They still look great! Especially the first one, there it is really hard to find evidence of the sky having been replaced.