Magpie

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Robert S

Robert S

Well-known member
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Seems the dynamic range was too much for the gear. Earlier in the day it 'looked' better but the bird was gone before I could get the image. Will try again tomorrow morning.
Any thoughts on how to get more detail in the whites appreciated.

Magpie 30 07 23-7708-DeNoiseAI-standard resize.jpg
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Magpie 30 07 23-7701-DeNoiseAI-standard resize.jpg
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From the looks of it, the whites are sufficiently blown out that even pulling the highlights/whites back in post processing won't get you anything usable (something I'm well familiar with), so heading back out there for a new image is the solution.

I think you hit the nail on the head by thinking about a different time of the day. The other option would be to expose for the whites - essentially underesposing (deliberately) the entire image using exposure compensation or just plain manual exposure and just make sure to keep the whites from being blown out. Then in post processing, selectively mask parts of the image and raise the exposure on everything except the whites (leaving out other areas as desired).


You did get the eye nice and sharp so that helps the image greatly. With black and white birds there is such a fine balance point between blowing out the whites and crushing the blacks that getting it perfect will be difficult - even with time spent in post processing. Best of luck.
 
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To be really pedantic, it's an "Australian Magpie". For non-aussies "magpie" normally means the "Eurasian Magpie" (corvid family).
I love the intense gesture and posture that you've captured.
 
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David Berry said:
Ibrahim, your camera information is not showing below the photographs. It's difficult to comment in its absence.
…David
Click to expand...
Ah ok.
Full bird was EOSR7 fl 120mm [ I think I used the Sigma 120-300 ] f8 1/1250 second ISO 2000
Head shot same but 1/1250 second
The photos were taken at 1.30pm full sun.
Earlier that morning would have been better [ maybe ].
 
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Ibrahim, here are some of the strategies/settings that I use to manage high black/white contrast problems.

Menu references are for my R5 but should be similar for your R7; perhaps, the 'page' number (2, 7, 3, 1 below) might be different.

  • Highlight Tone Priority — Red Shoot 2 Menu
  • Disable : OFF
  • Enable : D+
  • Enhanced : D+2
Choosing D+ or D+2 should improve gradation in the bright areas but will raise the minimum ISO to 200 and, perhaps, introduce noise into the darker areas.​
​
I'd prefer to fix noise (on my computer) rather than deal with washed-out 'whites'.​
  • Histogram — Shooting Info Display — Red Shoot 7 Menu
  • Screen Info Display
  • Viewfinder Info Toggle Settings
Set screen and EVF so that a histogram is always displayed. On histograms "light is on the right".​
​
When exposing guard against having white values so dominant that there's a mountain peak on the histogram's right margin. Because you have a histogram in the viewfinder, you'll be alerted to the problem and can overcome it by…​
  • Exposure Compensation — Customise Dials — Orange Custom Function 3 Menu
  • Set one of your dials to adjust exposure compensation.
  • My choice is the Quick Control Dial #1 (the dominant 'wheel' on the back of the camera).
  • Many RF shooters prefer to assign exposure compensation to the Control Ring on an RF lens.
By assigning exposure compensation to a dial (or ring), you can quickly override the camera's choice of exposure — darkening or lightening by one-third, two-thirds or a full EV (exposure value) stop.​
  • Auto Exposure Bracketing — Orange Custom Function 1 Menu
Unfortunately, setting up auto exposure bracketing (on an R5) is seriously challenging; but it is the way to go. Here, I'll only hint at what is involved.​
​
Typically, auto exposure bracketing involves setting the camera to take a three-exposure burst — too dark, just right, too light.​
​
Afterwards, you can choose which of the three to keep, or (this is the fun bit) combine the three images so that the maggie's white feathers are taken from the 'too dark' exposure, the black feathers from the 'too light' image and everything else from the 'just right'. The result is a composite HDR (high dynamic range) image.​
​
Arguably, this is the best way to photograph a magpie: just remember to tell it to keep still.​

… David
 
Last edited:
Member's gallery
David Berry said:
Ibrahim, here are some of the strategies/settings that I use to manage high black/white contrast problems.

Menu references are for my R5 but should be similar for your R7; perhaps, the 'page' number (2, 7, 3, 1 below) might be different.

  • Highlight Tone Priority — Red Shoot 2 Menu
  • Disable : OFF
  • Enable : D+
  • Enhanced : D+2
Choosing D+ or D+2 should improve gradation in the bright areas but will raise the minimum ISO to 200 and, perhaps, introduce noise into the darker areas.​
​
I'd prefer to fix noise (on my computer) rather than deal with washed-out 'whites'.​
  • Histogram — Shooting Info Display — Red Shoot 7 Menu
  • Screen Info Display
  • Viewfinder Info Toggle Settings
Set screen and EVF so that a histogram is always displayed. On histograms "light is on the right".​
​
When exposing guard against having white values so dominant that there's a mountain peak on the histogram's right margin. Because you have a histogram in the viewfinder, you'll be alerted to the problem and can overcome it by…​
  • Exposure Compensation — Customise Dials — Orange Custom Function 3 Menu
  • Set one of your dials to adjust exposure compensation.
  • My choice is the Quick Control Dial #1 (the dominant 'wheel' on the back of the camera).
  • Many RF shooters prefer to assign exposure compensation to the Control Ring on an RF lens.
By assigning exposure compensation to a dial (or ring), you can quickly override the camera's choice of exposure — darkening or lightening by one-third, two-thirds or a full EV (exposure value) stop.​
  • Auto Exposure Bracketing — Orange Custom Function 1 Menu
Unfortunately, setting up auto exposure bracketing (on an R5) is seriously challenging; but it is the way to go.​
​
Typically, auto exposure bracketing involves setting the camera to take a three-exposure burst — too dark, just right, too light.​
​
Afterwards, you can choose which of the three to keep, or (this is the fun bit) combine the three images so that the maggie's white feathers are taken from the 'too dark' exposure, the black feathers from the 'too light' image and everything else from the 'just right'.​
​
Arguably, this is the best way to photograph a magpie: just remember to tell it to keep still.​

… David
Click to expand...
Thanks David. It will take me a while to absorb all this info. Give me a few weeks and I'll see how I go.
 
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