Shore bird silhouettes

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Wade Abadie

Wade Abadie

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Last weekend, I spent some time photographing shore birds. The morning sun allowed me to get a couple decent silhouette shots of a Sandpiper and a Sanderling. I've never really had the opportunity to take this type of photo before...and I literally had moments to compose and shoot as these birds darted through the bright spot in the sand/water. In hindsight, I think I probably should have underexposed a little bit to get more of a "proper" silhouette, without capturing any detail in the birds themselves.

What are your thoughts? Do you think silhouette shots look better as a straight "blackout" on the subject, or with a little fill light like these?

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Nice shots, Wade! On the first shot, I would have preferred a full silhouette and to have the bright background toned down a little bit; so yes, maybe it could have been underexposed a little to achieve that. Also, could you accomplish the same in post process by increasing the shadows or reducing highlights or whites?

I like the bird in the second one but I may have experimented with the brightness of the background and sand to see which I liked best, maybe just a little softer than it is now.

I think it comes down to personal preference on each, they are both very good photos!
 
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gaknott said:
Nice shots, Wade! On the first shot, I would have preferred a full silhouette and to have the bright background toned down a little bit; so yes, maybe it could have been underexposed a little to achieve that. Also, could you accomplish the same in post process by increasing the shadows or reducing highlights or whites?

I like the bird in the second one but I may have experimented with the brightness of the background and sand to see which I liked best, maybe just a little softer than it is now.

I think it comes down to personal preference on each, they are both very good photos!
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I think you're right. I just tried a couple slight adjustments in Lightroom and like the results!

On the first, I reduced the highlights and darkened the shadows.

On the second, I just increased the "dehaze" slider by +27

What do you think?

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Wade Abadie said:
I think you're right. I just tried a couple slight adjustments in Lightroom and like the results!

On the first, I reduced the highlights and darkened the shadows.

On the second, I just increased the "dehaze" slider by +27

What do you think?

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YES! I like what you did to both, it gave them a much nicer 'mood' to my eyes. They are bright to represent the actual scene and time of day, but soft enough to be very peaceful and gentle. I like them!
 
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Agree with Greg and both of your 2nd posts... gives more separation and really makes the focus the bird, getting the bright white toned down really worked..

Two really nice Photo's Wade! Well done Sir!
 
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