What technical feedback would you like if any? How would you selectively darken the BG if needed>?
What artistic feedback would you like if any? Does the comp look OK?
Any pertinent technical details: D500 600mm f4 (1/3200 sec at f8.0, Iso 1000) Crop for comp, desaturation of yellows on BG, bump up in midtone contrast.
Last weekend, temperatures maxed out in the mid 50’s and about 20 Eastern bluebirds ventured into the backyard. This female was looking for midges in the grass and she blends right into the black locust’s tree trunk.
You may only download this image to demonstrate post-processing techniques.
Wonderful detail and color. I agree the oof BG could use a little more darkening. I would create a duplicate layer, darken the whole image and erase the darkening from the bird. But I would also lighten the in focus perch more than the oof BG. I might also throw in a til shift blur on that oof BG.
If one must endure an invasion, I can’t think of a nicer invader, Jim. Very nice job on the Bluebird and the perch. I think a touch of blur on the background trunk would still convey the same impression, but would make the Bluebird pop just a bit more.
I think the comp looks good Jim. I would do something similar to David’s suggestion-I would isolate the background with a layer mask and play with background light. I might also be tempted to place a small Gaussian blur on the same layer and tweek to taste. Neat image.
