Bald Eagle + Grey Skies = ???

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dupcak said:
Hi,

A general question and then a request for "brutal" critique.

Q: Lets pretend the photo below is "acceptably good" ignoring the sky, what do you do with this sort of photo when all you have to play with is plain old grey skies? No texture, no clouds, etc. Do you toss it? Do you keep it but never show it to anyone? Replace the sky? Keep it until you get a better one?

So now for the critique. Please critique and be as honest as possible - I really will NOT be offended - I have very thick skin and would rather learn and improve than receive praise. I had about 30 minutes on Thanksgiving to run out and grab some shots before the family got too suspicious. I plan to get more time with this nesting pair of bald eagles and hopefully the weather will cooperate and I'll be able to spend more time with them in the future.

Some questions for critique (feel free to add your own thoughts on other items):
  • I boosted the shadows on the bird - did I overdo it?
  • I didn't remove the branches in the lower right since I kinda liked the diagonal of the leading edge of the eagle kinda matching the diagonal of the branches. Should I have removed or are they additive to the photo?
- Rob

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If you HAVE to do something, mask the sky in Lightroom and see if you can use dehaze or other slider to bring out some texture in the clouds. But as many have said, it’s a majestic photo as is.
 
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If, in your mind, you have captured what your eye saw then there is little more to be done. A dreary, grey day with a magnificent raptor as a subject. I wouldn't change a thing.
 
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At a certain point I think you just have to say that you did the best you could in the given conditions. This is a very good picture, and your post processing seems to have been appropriate for the situation. I might have tried raising the shadows a bit more if this was my shot, and maybe added a tiny bit of contrast. Of course, I might have tried that and rejected it once I saw how it looked. :)

I like the branches on the lower right, along with the branches behind the bird it nicely frames the subject, which I think is important with the flat grey sky.
 
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One of the things you might consider is to mask the sky (1 click if you use Lightroom Classic) and give it a very slight or gentle blue tinge to the white balance. It's not really sky replacement, and can give the eagle a bit more punchiness.
 
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MikePapple said:
You could Photoshop in a couple of moons...

Raising the shadows to show more feather detail - a little is good, too much is not real.
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Or maybe two setting suns - kinds like Tatooine :)

Thanks for the comment on the shadows, I was aiming for feather detail - hopefully I didn't over do it.
 
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Rick Kibbey said:
If you HAVE to do something, mask the sky in Lightroom and see if you can use dehaze or other slider to bring out some texture in the clouds. But as many have said, it’s a majestic photo as is.
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Many thanks! I actually did exactly what you said and there was nothing there so I'm going to stick with what I have and be happy with it. Hopefully I'll be able to get back soon and get some more shots.
 
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Woodyg3 said:
At a certain point I think you just have to say that you did the best you could in the given conditions. This is a very good picture, and your post processing seems to have been appropriate for the situation. I might have tried raising the shadows a bit more if this was my shot, and maybe added a tiny bit of contrast. Of course, I might have tried that and rejected it once I saw how it looked. :)

I like the branches on the lower right, along with the branches behind the bird it nicely frames the subject, which I think is important with the flat grey sky.
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Thanks for the specific feedback - I appreciate it. I'll give it a try with more shadows and I'll even try more contrast. For some reason (unknown to me) I tend to shy away from contrast - I honestly can't figure out why, maybe I'm just not comfortable with the results yet - who knows.
 
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Richard Stern said:
One of the things you might consider is to mask the sky (1 click if you use Lightroom Classic) and give it a very slight or gentle blue tinge to the white balance. It's not really sky replacement, and can give the eagle a bit more punchiness.
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Thanks for the suggestion - I did select the sky and made the white balance a touch more blue going for a 'moody' look, but maybe I could go a bit more - it's worth a try.
 
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Normall such dull weather is like a big soft box, it doesn't have a big contrast and preserves the details very well. And as I can see the fisch eagle has a lot of details in fathers. To be honest I would remove those brunches, at least the small ones right down where the birds is flying to. But I would remove all and let only the bird on the gray BG. Then I will turn it in a black-and-white or color-graded image and enhance the texture. I would enhance it with doddging and burbing and with other tools (perhaps Nik Filters etc).
So, my final image shall look like an eagle on the plain background (greyish, white) with very pronounced details and textures, with a good contrast. Black and White. So, like a fine art image.
 
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ElenaH said:
Normall such dull weather is like a big soft box, it doesn't have a big contrast and preserves the details very well. And as I can see the fisch eagle has a lot of details in fathers. To be honest I would remove those brunches, at least the small ones right down where the birds is flying to. But I would remove all and let only the bird on the gray BG. Then I will turn it in a black-and-white or color-graded image and enhance the texture. I would enhance it with doddging and burbing and with other tools (perhaps Nik Filters etc).
So, my final image shall look like an eagle on the plain background (greyish, white) with very pronounced details and textures, with a good contrast. Black and White. So, like a fine art image.
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Thanks for the suggestions - I haven't worked too much in black & white so that might be a fun excercise.
 
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dupcak said:
I haven't worked too much in black & white so that might be a fun excercise
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have a look in youtube there is certainly good tutorials for BW processing (for example, at B&H channel or "Out of Chicago")
here are a few examples of mine:
shz554a.myportfolio.com

One-System - Animals in Monochrome

shz554a.myportfolio.com shz554a.myportfolio.com
and almost all of them have white sky or gray sky. The point is to get the texture out of subject! You can turn your image in fine art!
 
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Metering for Bald Eagles with Z9

A couple of methods I learned from Christopher Balmer who shoots thousands of Bald Eagle in flight images in Alaska every year.
Custom button settings are my own.

Manual Mode with Auto ISO (my preferred method especially BIF in variable light)

Spot meter on the white head or other white object and overexpose with EV +1 stop. Use AE lock hold and shoot away. So I will not forget when I turn AE lock hold off I change my metering back to matriix or center weighted.

Since I have my AF-On set to 3D+Focus I set my DISP button to AE Lock hold. I have custom control menu access in my I menu so I can quickly get back to cycle through live view display as needed.

OR

Full Manual including ISO:
Spot Meter on white object eagle or other. Expose 2 stops over on meter using ISO to do so.
 
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It depends on what your style is. If this is what you are aiming for - a great photo, shot as is - then that's your style.
I replace skies and clone distractions out of my images - but ONLY use skies or backgrounds I have photographed myself. My style is more in line with fine art - so I would definitely have replaced the sky. Excuse the pun but the sky is the limit as I see it 😄

For me - The bird is well photographed but could do with a bit more fine-tuning and contrast, The distraction of the tree and branches are too much in my opinion, and the gray sky is not my thing. If you want your image to stand out - it needs more work.

Judging and nit picking - very subjective. At the end of the day - unless you want to enter it into a photo competition - it is your photo to process and handle as you like to see it. A photo is what you want it to be.
 
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Duff Photographer said:
"I boosted the shadows on the bird - did I overdo it?"

Only if noise is showing up.

Grey skies are good, and no worse or better than blue skies, depending on the subect. The worst are perhaps wholly "white" skies where there is too much contrast between the subect and the sky.
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Yet white sky is the basic for a high-key photography for the more art minded :) Ala Lisa Langell etc.. I have done the artsy stuff but have just returned back to getting it right in camera whenever possible and no edits not even a crop is my goal ... still many times I do not get to that goal. I know some pros who either get it in camera or they delete it.
 
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dupcak said:
Thanks for the thoughts on the gray skies - I guess I just don't see too many "top notch" photos with out either blue skies or at least some texture to them.
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Depends on "top notch" for what :) Bird ID shots have a bit of different emphasis ... I sometimes get a beautiful photo but it bombs for showing the field ID marks ... so I nailed one reason for the photo and failed the other. As others have noted you have to decide what your goal and use for the photograph are.
 
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