The photographer is looking for generalized feedback about the aesthetic and technical qualities of their image.
Description
During a kayak outing led by professional naturalists, one paused inadvertently by this RWBB’s nest to point out differences in Sweet gale and Leatherleaf. This boy was quite upset, but stood guard over his mate and their babies until we paddled away, which we did after she popped out to add to the insistence that we leave. This is barely cropped I was so close - literally looking right up to him as he bravely stood up to all of us. RWBBs strike me as some of the most dedicated parents in the bird world.
Specific Feedback
For some reason white balance gave me headaches on this one and I’m still not sure it looks natural or right. Thoughts?? It wasn’t quite blue bird skies; we had some high thin clouds, too. Also, blacks look ok? I only overexposed a tiny bit for this not wanting to crush them and I didn’t using any camera-matching base profile I used. I’m so pleased at the level of detail in the dark areas with this new camera.
Technical Details
Handheld in the kayak
Lr starting with a flat camera-matching profile, actually shot it in the standard profile. Cropped a bit to un-center the bird and eliminate a big bare branch under him - but I didn’t crop much since he’s pretty frame-filling all by himself. Fiddled with wb and calibration to get the colors to look right (?). The usual slider adjustments for contrast. Added a bit of texture & clarity and took out a bunch of distracting things using the older remove functionality not the new generative remove. Slight sharpening & noise reduction.
Critique Template
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Looks great to me – both pose/composition and tonalities/colors! Blacks look a bit heavy for my taste but I’m maybe too addicted to bringing out dark detail. The histogram shows darks aren’t blocked here but I wonder about stretching them out a bit more – the Shadows slider usually does an excellent job and the histogram in LR is so easy to read. I don’t see any evidence of tree surgery but just to check it out I downloaded the file and did a curves and boosted contrast in the sky tones by pulling the LL corner right and the UR corner left. That reveals some smudges top center. I’ve learned to add a curve like that on top of cloning work to keep it cleaner.
I use a “standard” profile for shooting, to try to give a reasonable in-camera histogram (meaning modest, on the flat side). That helps with getting an exposure that doesn’t underexpose darks or overexpose brights too much. Of course the actual profile has no bearing on the raw file – what matters is the profile chosen in the raw developer, and different camera models will have differences. But the histogram has a big say in my choices.
I think RWBBs are one of my favorite birds - their songs are something I look forward to every spring and summer! This is a marvelous pose. I’m with @Diane_Miller on trying to bring out a tiny bit more black detail, but otherwise I love the image. I’ve been noticing that almost all my skies recently have been this color with high clouds and some haze, so it’s not bothering me.
This looks fine to me, Kris. I like my black birds to look black. You’d never see significant detail in that belly area in the field, and if I take my time and let my eyes adjust I can see quite a bit on the screen (and that’s with overly bright lighting). The sky looks good to me as well.
I’m with Dennis, the black belly doesn’t detract from a fine image. Nice pose and overall composition. The foliage is attractive . I like that there is a hint of iridescence in the chest area. One could say the lack of detail in the belly helps direct the eye to the more important areas.
Thanks @Diane_Miller, @Denise_Dethlefsen, @Dennis_Plank & @Allen_Brooks - glad you found this an engaging shot even though he’s not looking directly at the camera. He was busy keeping an eye on 10 or so kayakers! I played with lifting the shadows using the histogram, but ultimately decided I like them richer and a bit deeper only because it’s how we see the birds with our eyes. If they were blocked up, that might be different, but right now I’m pretty pleased with this.
