Flamingos at the zoo

just a few pictures from the Birmingham zoo.

not sure you have the WB correct the greens are not quite green

You had some tough lighting to work with. The shadows are a bit harsh.

Fascinating bird and amazing color. I like the closeups but the crop on the first one just doesn't work for me.

And is it my eyes, the subject, the light, or what, but they look soft? Perhaps contrast?

There are orange flamingos? Where?

Evidently the Birmingham Zoo...

Joe and Dave....
I tried turning Tori's flamingos pink in Photoshop Elements.

I can't get anything that looks reasonable. Is there some process you could guide me on to make that happen?

another Dave

Dave - I gave it a quick try too. And failed. Since I don't know what color they should really be I opted to try to correct the WB. That didn't work at all.

Isn't the color the result of diet? Perhaps they are eating lots of carrots. I"ve actually seen that make people orange.

It would probably help to know what exact steps were taken in post. Cooling them way down (WB) and adjust saturation and Tint looks somewhat promising in LR4.

OK - no laughing now, just a yes or no answer - is this any closer to reality? We don't see a lot of real flamingos in the Pacific NW.

Dave:

Yes, the pink comes from them eating some type of shellfish if I remember the narration correctly from my last trip to the zoo.

I was just trying to find ANY pink [and work on my PP skills]. I got to a neon pink which took away the photo qualities and desaturating it didn't improve.

dave

OK, more research:

http://chemistry.about​.com …hy-are-flamingos-pink.htm

Question: Why Are Flamingos Pink?
Have you ever wondered why flamingos are pink or orange? You've probably heard it has something to do with what flamingos eat, but do you know what exactly it is that produces the color?
Answer: Flamingos are pink or orange or white depending on what they eat. Flamingos eat algae and crustaceans that contain pigments called carotenoids. For the most part, these pigments are found in the brine shrimp and blue-green algae that the birds eat. Enzymes in the liver break down the carotenoids into the pink and orange pigment molecules deposited in the feathers, bill, and legs of the flamingos. Flamingos that eat mostly algae are more deeply colored than birds that eat the small animals that feed off of algae. Captive flamingos are feed a special diet that includes prawns (a pigmented crustacean) or additives such as beta-carotene or canthaxanthin, otherwise they would be white or pale pink. Young flamingos have gray plumage that changes color according to their diet.
People eat foods containing carotenoids, too. Examples include beta-carotene in carrots and lycopene in watermelon, but most people do not eat enough of these compounds to affect their skin color.

= = = =
Now back to your regularly scheduled C&C. I will stop hijacking now.

dave

cpam.pix wrote in post #14215792
Dave:

Yes, the pink comes from them eating some type of shellfish if I remember the narration correctly from my last trip to the zoo.

I was just trying to find ANY pink [and work on my PP skills]. I got to a neon pink which took away the photo qualities and desaturating it didn't improve.

dave

Hmmm, you must have used my process.....

Edit removed. Evidently they CAN be orange. Like I said earlier - we don't see a lot of flamingos (of any color) in the Pacific NW.

http://animals.desktop​nexus.com/wallpaper/43​5787/

And my sincere apologies to the OP.

I adjusted the wb to "normal" in Pic doctor Pro v1.0 and this is what it gave me.

Chet wrote in post #14215894
I adjusted the wb to "normal" in Pic doctor Pro v1.0 and this is what it gave me.

the flamingos definitely weren't that pink. I think I still have the unedited images on my memory card, ill post them.