Realy nice catch! I like the pose, tree and branches, and the head-turn. If you were unhappy with some of the branches, you could clone them out if that fits your vision.
The whole image seems dark to me, so I played a bit with it and removed some of the branches as well.
See what you think..
Good pose and detail, Steven, and she does look a bit wet. The remove tool in PS works great to remove branches, if as Sandy said, it fits your vision. I like Sandy’s version, though I think your’s tells more of the story of “After the Rain” with the darkness and damp looking bird.
I really like the look she’s giving you, Steven. Even though our Western Bluebirds love baths and come out looking like this, she doesn’t look any too happy in this image. Whether to clone nuisance branches or not is a personal choice, so if you don’t do so as a practice, let us know. I do like the tighter crop that @Sandy_Richards-Brown demonstrated, though the increase in brightness created some distractions because of the light reflecting off the wet branch tops. Just bringing up the shadows in your raw editor might solve both issues-worth playing with anyhow.
The “wet” look and head turn make this one worth playing with in my opinion.
Hi Steven. I admire your photograph. I’m beginning to think that is important for us to document a wider range of natural history. I guess we tend to go for beautiful, well-composed portrayals, skipping over the harsh and dangerous aspects of life in the wild. Your photograph tells an unvarnished story.
