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Inspiring and Supporting Photographers of Australian Birds

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Royal Spoonbill

Royal Spoonbill (Image ID 37109)
Photographed byDavid Seymour on Tue 3rd Sep, 2019 and uploaded on Tue 5th Nov, 2019 .
Resolution1050x1050
Viewed535
ID37109
CommentOne of a small flock of Royal Spoonbills possibly setting up for breeding at Tamar Island wetlands, these birds are still relatively uncommon visitors to Tasmania and usually attract some interest from local birdwatchers. They are a quite alien-looking species, yet have a certain bearing and natural beauty at the same time. The direct sunlight was quite harsh, and I waited for a head angle that minimised the beak shadow on the neck while still having the bird looking my way. Being aware of highlight control being a potential issue, I set an original exposure to try and reduce the chances of overloading the brightest whites. Testing the RAW by pulling the brightness down to minimum seemed to show detail present in nearly all of the highlights, so perhaps I mostly succeeded.
EquipmentCanon EOS 5D IV
EF 100-400 L IS II + 1.4x III TC, at 560mm, centre spot servo AF, handheld
Manual exposure, 1/1600 sec, f/9, ISO 400
Processing: Lightroom Classic CC for RAW conversion and initial adjustments, then Photoshop CC where moderate noise reduction was applied with Neat Image, and the brightest highlights subdued somewhat with a narrow-band luminosity mask. One of the tallest reeds which came close to the left edge of the bird's beak was shortened with the Spot Healing Brush, and a narrow incursion from another bird's beak at the right frame margin was cloned out. Size reduction to web submission dimensions was followed by final sharpening using Smart Sharpen.
LocationTamar Island wetlands, Launceston, northern Tasmania, Tasmania
Keywordsadult
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