Really great video. The openness and willingness to teach techniques that I've sure many people do but won't advertise is very much appreciated. I have never thought of doing things this way, but it certainly leads to even more stunning results. I've definitely learnt a few things, thank you.
Funny I watched this video a year ago and to be honest didn't like idea of merging 2 exposures. But fast forward 1 year and now I'm doing this all the time! I don't see any problem in this type of editing, if I didn't do this type of editing I would have a lot worse soft photos with only the head focus. All your doing is blending in detail, the final image if compared the raw file is still the same, its not like your completely changing an image, also the the fact the images a like 1/10th of a second apart is more of a reason to back this up. This particular video has been a big help over the past 6 months, so cheers the the vid Duade.
Kurtis that is great to hear, at the end of the day you are creating an image that you like, as long as you are open about your process I have no issue with it. Cheers, Duade
Excellent technique Duane, been using photoshop for nearly 30 years in the print industry, learned a lot in half an hour, thanks. Now if they would just stop the lock down we can get out there again.
G'day Andy, thank you for your comment, I am glad you got something out of it. I am learning all the time and have learnt a lot from my friend Jan Wegener who also has a RU-vid channel worth checking out. He has an editing video here ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-SnhCz8r1pGQ.html Cheers, Duade
DP, I just watched another bird photographer go thru his process before viewing yours. His approach was much more complicated and I learned very little. With your approach I could almost follow it all the way thru. If I knew more about PS I could have followed it all. Currently the only post processing I do is with Digital Photo Professional, so your work would be a much higher pay grade! Something to aspire to.
I've only been at this for a little less than a year and I have to say that I'm frustrated. What I thought was a photography hobby, has really turned into a tech hobby in order to produce good photos. Kudos for all that have the skill to do this, but I will need to see how I fit. Duade is certainly much skilled and I am learning quite a bit from his channel. Thanks!
Nice work, Duade! You can also select the 3 images you want to merge and use the Lightroom option "Open as Layers in Photoshop" so it will create a single file with 3 layers in PS. After that you can use Auto-Align Layers option in PS to perfectly align them automatically (but I think when opening them as layers they will already be aligned - not 100% sure though). This will save you a lot of time.
Thanks for the videos! I definitly have to try this out later (as I don't have time now). I'm glad that I found someone doing this style of editing and not charging like a 100$ for it. ;-)
Thanks for the feedback Tony, always happy to share what I know, I'm sure there are numerous ways to edit photos and seeing how others do it can be helpful. Cheers, Duade
Great video - thank you. I've always been obsessed with birds and have recently decided invested in a telephoto lens. Having watched countless photography lesson videos, yours have been the best. You're now officially my #1 go to source! I also love seeing all the Aussie birds! I lived in New Zealand for 5 years and, of course, have traveled to Australia so it's bringing back happy memories for me!
Anna, great to hear, birds are a wonderful passion and I share your enthusiasm for them. I grew up in NZ so I have had the pleasure of seeing their birds also. Good luck with the photography. Cheers, Duade
Liked, Subscribed and Donated to your Paypal. Thanks for the informative videos and sharing your bird taking and processing knowledge with us. Love your unique format showing the finished image, original RAW image and the corresponding cropping done for the final image...brilliant!
Duade, I just found your channel and I'm hooked! I love your easy going style. Your vids are so informative and very well produced. Keep up the great work! Cheers from Seattle, WA USA
Thanks for the tip on taking an extra shot of the background, I hadn't thought of that. I don't worry about people who complain about photoshopping, it usually comes from people who don't even use it, they just think everything magically happens. While I knew about all the things you showed us, it is still always a good idea to recap and reinforce because if you aren't doing it everyday or often, you forget when to use the skills you have previously learnt.
Great video! We’ll explained. I’ve been nervous about using Photoshop as I am just now getting comfortable in Lightroom. Now, I can’t wait to get some clicks in and give this technique a try.
Thanks Ruben, I rarely blend exposures but whenever I have two birds in the shot I do try and focus on each bird if I can. Just as a backup should one of the birds be out of focus. Just a handy tool to have in the toolbox should you need it. Cheers, Duade
awesome video. you are just so much more chilled than all of these other videos i found looking for wildlife/bird editing! Thank you! (also props to you using soy milk! :3)
Definitively one of the best edit birds video I come across .The way you speak and show the progress is brilliant and a must see for every bird photographer. Thank you for share your deep knowledge with our community. Liked , subscribed and PayPal donated. Big hug from Portugal
We edit a lot the same but I picked up a couple more things for my tool box. I use high pass a little different but I don’t see an advantage either way as being better. Thank you, I got a little better.
Thanks for the Video. If I didn't already think there is a lot to learn with taking class photos... there is a whole bucket of learning to be done in post processing! Good to know that the assumption that images have little to no processing is wrong. A bit like fashion magazines and body image I suppose. What you see is not what necessarily came out of the camera. To expect perfection out of the camera on a regular basis - if at all - is unrealistic.
G'day, yes, the camera is just capturing the ingredients and the processing is the cooking stage. Processing is an important part of the digital workflow so trying to learn and improve processing is also important. Cheers, Duade
what a great video Duade! I can't believe I didn't discover it before! I have seen your developed photos, and even if I want to do the same, down here we do have a great issue. All the passerines like to perch on trees with lots and lots of branches ( I wish I could send you one of my photos) therefore , cleaing them is imposible! I don't want to make a false image... Any ideas of how to work with branches behind, and in front of the birds? It's so hard!!!!! Thank you so much!! :) Best wishes, and regards to the family as well from Uruguay:)
Hi Daniela, yes, that can be very difficult for sure and there is no easy way unfortunately, I think that is why many people use water or other means to lure the birds out from the dense bush. Cheers, Duade
Excellent video. I've been putting off learning to use Photoshop for years now and have stuck with Lightroom but there are some things that Photoshop clearly does better than LR so it's time to purchase Photoshop.
Hi John, if you have Adobe Lightroom CC subscription you also get Photoshop at no extra charge. It is a little overwhelming but does offer some powerful tools. Cheers, Duade
I see focus stacking endorsed in many books, especially in macro photography, in recent years. Manual focus stacking is essentially what you are doing here, so I don't see the issue. I've been using Helicon Focus on macro shots of flowers. I wonder how it would have fared merging these images for you. As always, your insights, depth of explanation, and tempo make your videos a joy to watch. Thank you for taking the time.
G'day Art, thanks for your comment, yes focus stacking does seem a lot more common in macro and landscape, no reason the same technique cannot be applied with birds. The hard part is birds are often moving so it can be very tricky to get several differently focused shots. Thanks for the tip re Helicon Focus. Cheers, Duade
hey great video again! Question, do you do these multiple focus on purpose on the field or it just accident that happen to be in your shootings? for example the branches part that is in focus in one of your photos, did you put up a strategy to purposely focus on the branch or it just happened to be in focus in your shootings? Thanks!
Hi Jonz, yes, it can be quite common to photography the perch with no bird on it first to ensure it is all in focus and the background is how you want it. Taking multiple shots at different focus points on birds allows you to merge later on if needed. Cheers, Duade
Very informative video. I actually may use this approach on images from a shoot from yesterday where I had a Spoonbill and Woodstork side-by-side and was not able to get both perfectly in focus at the same time. Great job on explaining how you use Photoshop.
Hello Duade, do you find you need to process the R6 raw files in DPP? If so, what process do you use? If not, do you have a preset you use in Lightroom, possibly created, to do initial processing on your raw file. Perhaps this is a future video. 😊 Thanks! Bill
Bill, great question, Adobe does seem to have some trouble with colours and dealing with the R6 files however I find DPP really difficult to use as it is very slow and clunky. At the moment I am just putting up with ACR and using Lightroom. I don't actually use any presets as I process each file individually based on what I think it needs. I mainly alter the exposure until it looks correct and I will often reduce the whites and highlights to recover any bright whites. I also tend to move the shadows to the right to bring up more detail in the shadows. I then often move the black to the left slightly to increase contrast. I will sometimes add a little bit of vibrance if it needs it but often don't add much if the bird has colour. The white balance can be tricky but I will often hit auto to see what lightroom suggests and then manually alter the white balance until it matches my tastes. I will look at doing an updated processing video in the future. Cheers, Duade
Duade, It was a pain to work DPP into my workflow as it is similar to yours relying on Lightroom and Photoshop. It's a relief to know that you think the benefits don't out weigh the costs. Thank you! Bill
@@BillB719 Bill, the only time I would consider using DPP is if I had a brightly coloured bird with multiple colours as that is what ACR seems to struggle with the most. At this stage though I have not used it. I just hope adobe can figure it out. Cheers, Duade
I think that what you have done is a great addition to photography and it just shows how good the human eye really is. You are just adjusting the shortcomings of man’s mechanical camera. I enjoyed this very much !
Brilliant work. I can understand the correction of the DOF and the increase of the canvas size, Although it's strange to me that in nature photography you do Photoshop work modeling on the bird.
Gday Duade, I enjoy watching your videos on bird photography. I have watched several and noticed that you show in the videos the raw file and where it was cropped, and I was wondering how do you crop your images? Do you just drag the edges of the grid, or do you select one of the preset sizes and drag the image around inside of that crop mark? Cheers!
G'day, thanks for your comment, I usually use a 2:3 crop ratio for landscape and 5:7 for portrait. I usually drag the edges of the crop and move it until I am happy with the composition, I actually don't really think about it, I just crop to what pleases my eye which maybe different to others. I think I did have a tendency to crop too close, so I have to be mindful of that. Cheers, Duade
G'day, yes, I have considered using a Wacom tablet, I have always found other things to spend my money on. One day I might give one a go. Cheers, Duade
A little late to the party as I just found your channel. This was a great lesson in using masks to merge multiple photos with isolated areas of focus. I have been "studying" photoshop, for years now, but still can't sit down with a situation like this and end up with those results without a tutorial, like this one, to nudge me along on the proper techniques. Yea, Na !! Also, you are lucky to live in a place where beautiful birds like this come to you in "flocks". Here in New England, we get a steady diet of Cardinals and Goldfinches but never find anything quite as exotic as this pair.
G'day Douglas, thanks for the comment. Photoshop is such a powerful program and I too am learning all the time. Good luck and have fun birding. 👍 Cheers, Duade Oh yes we are lucky in Australia with the bird diversity we have here. 😊
Hi Duade, how did you learn how to use all of the tools on Photoshop. All the books I have seen are really poor. Is it just taking time to go through each of the Photoshop tutorials? Much appreciated, Steven
You lost me since I couldn't follow along that fast. But you do great work and I can see you have invested much time in learning how to do all of that. I use both Lightroom and Photoshop but I am nowhere near as proficient as you are in using them. I have a lot to learn.🙂
At 5:09 where the eye is in focus, but the perch and bird on the left are soft, it seems that you should have plenty depth of field if the camera/lens focused on the right bird's eye. For sake of explanation let's assume the birds were 20 meters away you should have 13cm in front of and behind the right bird's eye that would be tack sharp. Perhaps your lens is back-focusing? At 700mm f/8 the DoF would be 27cm.
What I do add more space in my image, if it is a blurred background especially, is to crop using content aware. Select the crop tool, drag up to get more space, check content aware on the property bar, and let Photoshop do its magic!
G'day Kabir, it is a tool for getting the most from your RAW files. The camera just captures the data, it's up to us to display that data in the best possible way and Photoshop lets us do that. Cheers, Duade 👍
I know this video is 6 months old, but I wanted to answer your question. I do not mind using multiple images/exposures, but I really hate when people lie about it. Sometimes I see images taken with f/5.6 with are sharp from beak to tail, most of the time this is simply not possible in a single exposure, but they deny the fact that they merged multiple exposures. This image is a great example, even at f/8 it was not entirely in focus.
G'day James, yes it's always best to be honest about processing. In regards to sharpness front to back, you can get a bigger DOF at low apertures by moving away from the subject and cropping more. But I generally like to get as close as I can which narrows the DOF. Cheers, Duade 👍
That is a shocking small amount of instant coffee ! Gives a Swedish person nightmares and should come with a warning label! Otherwise thanks for the video. ;)
@@Duade Haha well what you lack in caffeine may have given you a benefit in stability. My pint of tar/morning coffe usually lose me a full stop of IS ;)
To the 2 exposur theme: I did a multiple exposur of 4 to get multiple birds aligned. They were flying in and out on the same branch so i just overlayed the 4 exposurs with the birds where non of the birds was sitting in the same spott resulting in 7 tits sitting next to each other.
G'day Darren, thanks for your comment, some good advice. In my experience long focal lengths produce a very narrow depth of field which often makes the back bird slightly soft even when focusing on the front bird. My advice would be to photograph the main subject first and then try and focus on the second bird to ensure maximum sharpness. Cheers, Duade 👍
G'day Bhaskar, thanks for the feedback, I do have a habit of talking too much. It is often a balance and I like to try and explain things so people can understand. Cheers, Duade 👍
