Common Raven

Common Raven in the snow – An exposure problem

By Mia McPherson, on December 29th, 2012%

Calling Common Raven in snow original - Nikon D300, f6.3, 1/4000, ISO 400, 0.0 EV, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 285mm, natural light, not baited or called in

Photographing dark birds such as this Common Raven is a challenge and knowing how to expose properly as well as getting the right angle of light is critical in producing a quality image. I have posted before about the importance of honest self critique and that will discussed in this post too. The exposure of this very dark bird is even more difficult because of the high contrast between the dark raven and the bright white snow.

The Common Raven image above is not properly exposed, in fact it stinks. The blacks are blocked up and very little feather detail is evident even though the bird is sharp. This image belongs in my delete bin but it can be used as an example of honest self critique. The expanded view area above the bird shows the area outlined in red at 200% and except for the upper left hand corner of the expanded view I barely see any detail.

I brought this image into Photoshop, cropped it slightly then masked the bird and sharpened it, no other adjustments were made.

This Photoshop histogram shows how poorly exposed this image is, the tall column of blacks on the edge of the left side shows how badly the blacks are blocked up. The histograms in our cameras can show us poor exposures in the field and by using the histogram exposure compensations adjustments can be made.

By using my skills of self critique I can say there were two things that could have made this image a keeper, 1) a better exposure and 2) a better light angle on the birds itself.

Could this image be saved in post processing?

Calling Common Raven in snow lightened – Nikon D300, f6.3, 1/4000, ISO 400, 0.0 EV, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 285mm, natural light, not baited or called in

This is the same image processed differently. I brought the file into Photoshop and increased the exposure by +.15, used the fill light slider and bumped it up to +25, I also used the tone curve slider for the blacks & shadows and raised them by +40 to raise the exposure of the darks within the image. I masked the bird and sharpened it using the same procedure as the top image.

This is the Photoshop histogram after post processing in Photoshop, the blacks are no longer blocked up towards the left edge of the histogram. Looking at the expanded view at 200% does show feather detail and areas of the Raven don’t look like a black featureless subject.

The problem? By increasing the exposure of this Raven in post processing I have introduced “noise” and it is right on the edge of “color noise”. I find this amount of noise unacceptable in my images. In both the expanded view and normal view I can see and detect that noise as blocky areas that just do not appear natural and that ruins this image for me and because of honest self critique this file is delete bin bound. The quality of this image is not acceptable to me even after post processing.

Well-meaning friends, relatives and non-photographers might think that this is a good image and say “Wow” or “great image” but after spending years honing my skills and time spent critiquing myself, I know it isn’t “great”.

I use Noise Reduction software sparingly, I very rarely ever apply it to my subject because it can cause the subject to look unnatural and unrealistic. Used excessively Noise Reduction software can give the feathers a melted appearance and it also ruins the fine details I like to see in my images. Granted, I am not very skilled at noise reduction and I feel that by getting my exposure correct in the field there is very little need for me to use it or become proficient at it.

Calling Common Raven in snow – Nikon D300, f6.3, 1/2500, ISO 400, +0.3 EV, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 285mm, natural light, not baited or called in

After looking at my cameras histogram I made a slight adjustment to my exposure compensation (EV) of +0.3 which brought out more detail in the black plumage and while this exposure isn’t perfect I am pleased with it. This image was taken just four frames after the top image. The Raven had moved slightly and that improved the angle of light falling on the bird too. I could have increased the exposure another step but in doing so I would have risked blowing out the whites of the snow. If I had blown out the snow I could have reduced the exposure in post processing but to be honest I would rather keep all my post processing adjustments to a minimum.

Ideally I would have liked to have started photographing the Common Raven about 10 feet back towards the west for a better light angle but sometimes other traffic can get in the way of doing that after the first stop. Just another of the frustrations bird photographers can face.

I know I am critical of my own images but every time I do an honest self critique I learn about improving my photography and that is a good thing.

Mia

At the Edge of a Storm

By Mia McPherson, on November 21st, 2012%

Snow storm approaching Antelope Island – Nikon D200, handheld, f5.6, 1/3200, ISO 400, Nikkor 18-200mm VR at 18mm, natural light

Last Sunday I photographed and posted a Prairie Falcon with a Northern Shoveler as prey and the next day I posted a Loggerhead Shrike taken on the same day, today I wanted to share images that were taken before the falcon and shrike. I mentioned that there had been low light, falling snow and that the weather conditions before photographing the Loggerhead Shrike and Prairie Falcon weren’t great.

This image was taken eleven minutes before the Loggerhead Shrike photo and about an hour before the first image of the Prairie Falcon was taken. There was a squall line coming in dumping snow on the Great Salt Lake that was heading northeast, in that tiny path of blue on the right side near the slope of Buffalo Point some distant mountains can be seen. Pretty ominous looking scenery.

Common Ravens in a storm – Nikon D300, f8, 1/400, ISO 400, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 400mm, natural light

Within the same minute that I took the image above I created this image of two Common Ravens with the storm cloud behind them.

Not the best weather conditions for photography but it can create very moody images.

Mia

Juvenile Common Raven

By Mia McPherson, on June 3rd, 2012%

There weren’t many birds present at the San Rafael Swell Recreation Site in central Utah this past week, the San Rafael River seemed lower than I have seen it and there was evidence of drought conditions, mainly in the vegetation there. The greasewoods looked yellow instead of the vibrant green I remember from the past two years, plants that are normally flowering weren’t and many of those plants appeared stunted.

Juvenile Common Raven back view – Nikon D300, f6.3, 1/500, ISO 400, +0.3 EV, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 322mm, natural light, not baited

It wasn’t a complete wash though because I did come back with some juvenile Common Raven (Corvus corax) images that I like. There was a family of ravens making a racket in and near the campsite which was right next to the two bridges over the San Rafael River, at one point I counted at least six birds, there may have been more.

The Swinging Bridge is no longer used for vehicle traffic but it is safe for foot traffic. It was built in 1938 and was the only bridge at the site until the early 1990′s.

Calling juvenile Common Raven – Nikon D300, f6.3, 1/800, ISO 400, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 314mm, natural light, not baited

One of the juvenile Ravens perched on a fence near the Swinging Bridge, the light was challenging because it was filtered through the leaves of old Cottonwood trees creating dappled light on the fence and bird while the background of greasewood and Navajo sandstone was in full sun. Surprisingly I did not need to use any exposure compensation with this image or the following one to get nice detail in the dark plumage without blowing out the background.

Common Raven juvenile by the San Rafael River – Nikon D300, f6.3, 1/800, ISO 400, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 314mm, natural light, not baited

This bird is easily identifiable as a juvenile Common Raven because of the short tail, the pink on the gape and the violet-blue eyes. I have images of Black-billed Magpie juveniles; also Corvids, with similarly colored eyes here. I’m not sure if other Corvid juveniles exhibit the same trait.

Mia

Common Raven in an Open Field

By Mia McPherson, on May 25th, 2012%

Will wonders never cease? The weather forecasters; who are usually way off on their predictions, were right yesterday. They called for partly cloudy weather and that is what happened. Of course when there were no birds the sky overhead was clear and when there were birds the hulking clouds blocked out most of the light. Maybe they used a Ouija board for the forecast yesterday instead of weather radars and other scientific information.

So, when there were clouds (and not much light) I came across this Common Raven (Corvus corax) perched on a small rock in an open field that had been feeding on roadkill on the shoulder of the road.

Common Raven fluffed up – Nikon D200, f6.3, 1/250, ISO 400, 0.7 EV, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 350mm, natural light, not baited

I grumbled about the low light earlier but it actually worked in my favor because I was able to bring out nice details in the Raven’s plumage and even got a hint of the blue sheen on some of the feathers and according to the histogram none of the blacks are blocked up. In brighter light there may have been blocked up blacks in the shadows.

Common Raven Histogram

I could lighten the Raven up because the histogram shows that I am nowhere near blowing out the whites but I don’t want to increase exposure if it will add unwanted noise and that can happen easily with blacks and other dark colors.

Common Raven on a rock in an open field – Nikon D200, f6.3, 1/1250, ISO 400, +0.7 EV, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 350mm, natural light, not baited

This Raven acted like it was going to expel a pellet for about a minute and I hoped to capture images of that but the bird must have decided it wasn’t time yet and flew off.

In Christian tradition Ravens are considered birds that herald death, evil, warfare or ill omens. I prefer to think of them as intelligent, playful and mischievous tricksters.

Mia