Muddy Colors

What causes "muddy colors" on birds ... say a blob of brown and not the feathers?

Need an example my friend to help you out of your quagmire.

The same colors? Or a blob of brown on something red? If it's smeared brown on brown feathers, I'd guess at noise reduction of some kind.

canonloader wrote in post #8778547
The same colors? Or a blob of brown on something red? If it's smeared brown on brown feathers, I'd guess at noise reduction of some kind.

For example the Red Shoulder Hawk ... if it happens .... the red on shoulder would not show up as individual feather .. but a muddy looking red blob. Or .. the underside of the feathers which is grayish black would be a muddy gray or black. I don't know if this is too large a crop .. or noise from something else. It can happen with an ISO of 200 or 400 .. or greater. Can happen on any of my cameras with any of my lens.

I want to know what causes it so maybe I can avoid it.

Thanks for the replies

Have you got an example?

Just some guesses;

It really sounds like some sort of processing error if it happens with any and all combinations of your gear. What program are you using?

I have seen this in my own shots, but it was always when using Neat Image or other noise reduction software.

It can be an effect of using noise reduction improperly whether in camera or in post. I don't use in camera NR at any time it is much too blunt of a tool.

I do use Neat Image on every bird or wildlife image I have shared here or on my zenfolio site. In many cases I have ran an image through Neat multiple times for different issues or effects I want.

Proper use of the applications like Neat or Noise Ninja will not soften, plastize, or muddy an image.

If you are cropping into an image it is possible for this too happen as well when one gets too agressive in trying to pull up a distant subject.

Personally I don't crop more than about 30% from an image, some people will go to 50% (and I suppose others even more), however I find the detail I want regardless of the body I am using just isn't there if I try an "extreme" crop.

But the only real way to answer the question is to see the shot and understand how it was processed.