What would you do to this photo?
 

Hi all,

I am a *very* amateur photographer. A while back, I was lucky enough to stumble upon a bald eagle who wasn't the least bit camera shy. He let me get within 20 feet of him, so I was able to get lots of good up-close shots.

Sadly, the lighting on these eagle pics isn't perfect... plus the shots are hand-held, and I didn't shoot in RAW... but I still think they could be decent pics with a bit of work in Photoshop.

Anyway, my question is this: what type of edits / tweaks / crops would you do with these photos? I have Photoshop CS6 and I'm relatively familiar with graphic design, but have no real experience in photo editing. Would love to see what you photo editing gurus can do with these original JPEGs.

Below are three of the best original photos... if anyone wants to spend 2 minutes touching them up in Photoshop, I would be forever grateful! (Any general photo editing advice is welcome too.)


http://www.borlandstudios.com/eagle1.jpg

http://www.borlandstudios.com/eagle2.jpg

http://www.borlandstudios.com/eagle3.jpg

Thanks in advance!

:fuckyea:

BTW, do these originals look 'washed out' to you? Obviously the direct overhead sunlight didn't help with that but I wonder if my camera settings need to be tweaked to correct for the washed out / undersaturated look? Or maybe it's due to my $20 lens filter?

http://oi40.tinypic.com/316uvbs.jpg

Here's my take.. I think the colors were washed out because of the color profile used. I discarded the embedded one when I opened it with PS.

Anyways, I first fixed the composition, played around with the colors, and sharpened it a little. I'd say for a JPEG with no editing, the photo was really well shot.

Shadows on the body of the eagle can be edited for taste.

here's my take on the second one :toot:

http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2887/9...6e188123_b.jpg

http://i42.tinypic.com/2yvujc0.jpg
http://i40.tinypic.com/2jai000.jpg
http://i43.tinypic.com/ku6gk.jpg

Many thanks!! That looks awesome. Since I took this photo I actually reset my camera's color profile to default... is it necessary to adjust the color profile based on shooting conditions (ie. midday sunlight vs. indoor)?

Anyway, love the editing work, thanks a lot.

WOW - that is incredibly sharp, how did you do that? Looks awesome, thanks!

Wow, the colors are extremely vivid... especially the sky. Maybe a bit too much for my taste? Still, big upgrade over the original. Thanks!


BTW, posted something similar on another forum and one dude made this... LOL...

http://i567.photobucket.com/albums/s...ght/Merica.jpg

I just increased the presence a bit and played around with the shadows and the darkness.
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Sorry my calibration on my monitors is way off on lightroom, here's a more tame second attempt
http://i40.tinypic.com/fqngy.jpg

The only way to make them better is to buy a 600mm F4!

I'm joking, I think you did good job with the equipment you had! Keep on shooting, and you'll get what you are looking for!

that second one is the money shot.

This is the only correct picture you should be looking for.

:fullofwin: