More Digiscoping with Pentax K20D

[AndyB]

Had another brief opportunity to practice digiscoping with the Pentax and Kowa combo. As there was no sign this morning of the Sooty Tern at Bolsa Chica :cry:, I had to make do with some returning shorebirds that were close in:

Least Sandpiper
http://surfbirds.com/albums/data/585/leastsand2.jpg

http://surfbirds.com/albums/data/585/leastsand1.jpg
Black-bellied Plover
http://surfbirds.com/albums/data/585/bbplover.jpg

[Colin Key]

Andy,

These are very good, with the Black-bellied Plover being the best of the three.

I feel that all could possibly take a touch more sharpening.

How much are you cropping these images? They all look rather "cramped" in the frame to me so unless these are original full-frame shots I would suggest giving them a bit more space to "look into" (or to "fly into" in the case of BIF shots).

Very good.

best,

Colin

[michael23]

i am impressed each time you post images taken with your combo andy, and as you say you are practicing, i would say you are doing very well indeed.:smile:
What camera settings did you use?

[AndyB]

Thanks for the notes. Colin, I'm going to send you a higher res file of the first Least Sand (via sendthisfile) and if you want to take a crack at it, feel free to see what you can do in photoshop to improve. Would be interesting to see the results. Best, Andy

[Colin Key]

Hello Andy,

Received the file, thanks. As always, there are some limitations as to what you can do to a JPEG file as opposed to a RAW image, but here is my attempt:


http://s118.photobucket.com/albums/o100/Passarinhos/IMGP1571a.jpg


I have not cropped as closely as you, but might have another go at a closer crop when I get time to see how much detail can be brought out of the bird itself.

My actions (in PS Elements 6) were:

1. Crop
2. Adjust shadows & highlights in 'levels'
3. Increase colour saturation slightly
4. Removed a few distractions with clone stamp tool
5. Increased contrast
6. Apply Neat Image noise removal
7. Apply unsharp mask
8. Re-size image to 800 pixels
9. Sharpen again with a slight pass of 'Adjust Sharpness' (less severe than Unsharp Mask)
10. Save file (using "Save as" not "Save for web") as a maximum quality (12) JPEG

There is not a whole load of difference between my and your version; I prefer more space around the bird, but that is just personal preference. If I was working on a RAW (or TIFF deriviative) file I would push the sharpening a bit further, but doing so on a JPEG starts to create some bright fringing along edges of high contrast (on my monitor I can see that developing on your version around the bird's bill and tail).

It is still a nice image and I would not know that it was taken through a 'scope.

Best,

Colin


P.S. Your image here is 792KB whereas mine is only 512KB despite being saved at maximum quality; this is the problem with working on JPEGs - each time you open, work on, and save an image there is an unavoidable compression which removes some detail and lowers image quality, unlike the "lossless" RAW and TIFF formats.

[Colin Key]

And another bash with a closer crop and more sharpening. I have also removed the distracting dark "blob" just above the bird and the upright piece of vegetation behind it:


http://s118.photobucket.com/albums/o100/Passarinhos/IMGP1571b.jpg


Colin

[AndyB]

Thanks Colin, I really like your first image a lot better than mine. Giving it space and making it smaller helps make it look a little sharper too. On numbers 2,3 and 4 are your adjustments relatively minor eg 10% here and there?

Michael, the Least Sands were:
f/8.0
1/180
ISO 800

and Black-bellied Plover:
f/6.7
1/125
ISO 400

I've been experimenting using higher ISO per Colin's notes before - just to see how much the camera can handle.

Thanks again, Andy

[Colin Key]

Hello Andy,

Yes, the adjustments I made were relatively minor - as you say "10% - ish" or less. On a a huge RAW file with much more digital data you can make more severe changes but on a JPEG you can end up with something looking like its made out of "Leggo".

I was interested in seeing the camera settings; there is more "noise" in the sandpiper shots at ISO 800 than in the plover at ISO 400. I might have asked you this before, but are you using "Neat Image" (or "Noiseware" or "Noise Ninja") as a third-party 'plug in'? If not, I suggest it is well worth investing in one of these programs since the in-built noise reduction tool in Photoshop is not very good. One of the most delicate actions in image enhancement is juggling higher ISO with noise reduction (which reduces detail) and sharpening tools (which can create artifacts).

As I said initially, the plover shot is the best in terms of I.Q. and that is obviously because of lower ISO, but that has meant using a larger aperture (f/6.7 as opposed to f/8.0 for the sandpiper) which gives a shallower depth of field - the head and bill of the plover are not as sharp as the bird's body and tail.

But these are all great shots and you must be pleased with the results, especially as you are still at the "experimental" stage.

I do think that you should cut back a bit on the cropping - a "frame-filling" bird is O.K. for submission to a rarities committee but aesthetically most people prefer a bit more space and a bit of the environment included.

Cheers,

Colin

[Colin Key]

Hi Andy,

Thought that you might like this:

http://aves.team-forum.net/galeria-f13/alcedo-atthis-t2267.htm#9956

Colin :yes:

[AndyB]

Terrific!!