The photographer is looking for generalized feedback about the aesthetic and technical qualities of their image.
Description
Rainbow lorikeets are mostly comical, clownlike birds that frequent my place every day. Now and then their true colours show. Hierarchy and communal disputes over partners are a constant source of friction.
Specific Feedback
I have shied away from publishing this image (and hundreds more like this) because of the blown highlights in the reds and yellows. They are like flying paintboxes.
In editing, I have lowered highlights and exposure. I have masked the subjects and lowered highlights again and added a bit of texture.
Are the yellows and reds troublesome?
This is a great photo of the relationship these two beautiful birds have to each other. The colors have been handled very well in post, and I have no problem with the red and yellow intensity. I think the gradient of the background tone from lighter on the left side to darker on the right works very well. Superb image Glenys.
Zooming to the largest image, I can see a few areas where the reds and yellows have limited texture, Glennie, but I don’t think it influences the image at all. Only photo geeks would look that close. I certainly wouldn’t if you hadn’t asked the question. As photographers we sometimes have to admit that some natural colors are exxentailly fully saturated and there’s very little we can do about it.
It’s nice to have such incredibly colorful subjects handy. We saw these once when we visited Queensland in 2013, but they were harvesting fruit in some palm trees in a park and all the shots were straight up-not ideal for compositions.
The interaction in this image is wonderful and the colors in the birds are awesome.
What a great moment you have captured Glenys! Love the interaction and the story. Image quality looks great to me. Fine details where it matters. Reds and yellows look fine to me. Well done.
I think this is a superb image in all respects. The colors look fine to me, too, but the ultimate test is for you to conduct. Perhaps you should do a test print and see if you still have concerns.
What beautiful birds, Glenys, and as far as I can tell you’ve captured them quite well showing their interaction and colors. I must admit, though, I’m not crazy about the background; it doesn’t say “Australia” to me. I do envy you having these beautiful birds in your backyard.
So cool!! All the good stuff said above. Reds and yellows are problems with digital capture. Lowering saturation is the common approach, but it has limits. Lowering Highlights is a better solution, and I think you have a good result here. Have you tried starting with a linear profile? The image stars out very flat and processing is a little different but can yield very good results.
