Edit bird shots
Step-by-step processing
I’m a big fan of Photoshop and feel it is an important tool for the digital photographer. Having said that, I do believe you should always try and make the best image possible in-camera and only use editing software to enhance good shots and not to fix bad ones!
Typical post-production for most of my images is five to ten minutes, with adjustments to sharpness, levels and a bit of work with the Clone tool. I usually only make tiny crops to my photographs and try to maintain the original three to two aspect ratio.
For me, editing should help reveal what was seen or intended at the time of capture. I rarely use the Crop tool but will create a duplicate layer in PS then reduce the canvas size to achieve the desired framing; I often make rotational adjustments at the same time.
1 OPEN RAW FILE
i always shoot in rAW as many competitions will want to see this file at some stage. The first step is to open the file in dpp and convert it to a TiFF file ready for photoshop.
2 CONSIDER IMAGE FRAMING
next i open the converted TiFF file in photoshop and check the framing. if i feel that a crop is required to improve the image, then first i will create a duplicate layer.
3 REDUCE CANVAS SIZE
With this image i was concerned about the sky on the horizon distracting attention from the main subject, so i reduced the canvas size but maintained the original aspect ratio.
4 CROP AS NECESSARY
i now move the previously duplicated layer within the frame to crop out the sky and also rotate the layer so the grouse and heather on the focal plane are horizontal.
5 TWEAK BRIGHTNESS
now i’m happy with the composition but feel the scene is a little darker than intended, so i use Levels to lighten the image. remember to make sure you save the file regularly.
6 ADJUST COLOUR BALANCE
This image was taken just after sunrise using a manual white balance and has a very slight blue cast. i change the colour balance to warm it up a little bit.
7 USE THE DODGE TOOL
One of my favourite tools for making exposure adjustments to specific areas is the dodge tool. i use it here to brighten up the grouse and some of the surrounding heather.
8 BOOST SHARPNESS
i waited for this grouse to show and then lined my AF point over her head so focus was spot on. despite this i still tend to increase the sharpness a touch to really crisp up the subject.
9 INCREASE SATURATION
now the editing is basically complete but i just want to give the image a bit more punch. i use the Vibrance control panel to boost saturation without degrading quality.
10 ADD KEYWORDS
The final step is to open the file information panel and add a title, description and some relevant keywords. now the image is ready for uploading to the web or submitting to competitions.