Uganda is world famous for its treasure of primates, but at the same time it is also a real birder’s paradise. Whenever I’m waiting for my guests in Entebbe, I settle down on the patio of my room with a cup of tea and my laptop to do some work. My camera is of course right next to me, because it is guaranteed that I will get the company of a beautiful bird or a monkey. This time I got to hear some beautiful music. A White-browed Robin-Chat was calling for his partner. She unfailingly replied from a distance. Always the same tune, but a real catchy one
Entebbe, Uganda.
Type of Critique Requested
Aesthetic: Feedback on the overall visual appeal of the image, including its color, lighting, cropping, and composition.
Conceptual: Feedback on the message and story conveyed by the image.
Emotional: Feedback on the emotional impact and artistic value of the image.
Technical: Feedback on the technical aspects of the image, such as exposure, color, focus and reproduction of colors and details, post-processing, and print quality.
Specific Feedback and Self-Critique
I wanted the robin-chat to have a light in its eye and the blurry background behind it. At the same time I wanted to catch it chanting (or ‘chatting’ ) This angle involved having a branch behind it and a bit of blurry tree on the left. I don’t take away anything from a photo ever (except for the occasional slight crop), but do the blurry branch and tree annoy the viewer?
Technical Details
1/1000s, f/4, 900 ISO, Nikon D850
hardly any post-processing : light, contrast, exposure and colours are as taken. 8% crop to get rid of a small sharp branch lower right hand corner.
I think this is a pleasing image. The composition is really nice. I like the fact that the bird is relatively small in the frame and the environment is there.
You asked specifically about the branch behind the bird and the blurry tree on the left.
The blurry tree doesn’t bother me much.
The branch behind the bird was the very first thing my eyes went to when I opened the image. I find it to be a distraction.
Hi Ingrid, the light on this image is fantastic. I really like your composition too. The blurry parts don’t bother me much. I do see what @Keith_Bauer says on the branches, they could be easily cloned out.
Quite a different sort of image, and a very lovely one! I’ll often remove or slightly retouch things but here I don’t mind the objects in the BG because it is so lovely and they look natural. I think lightening the bird and its branch with a careful mask could make it stand out a bit more from the BG, which would make the possible distractions less of an issue.
Hi Ingrid. I like the overall composition of the image and it is definitely nice having the catchlight in the eye–so important with any live subject. I understand you never remove anything from a photo and I wonder why? I used to believe post processing was cheating, but as I learned more, I came to understand it is part of the overall process. I do think the image could be improve with some cloning out of the hard line just above the bird and the branch. Other than those issues, the rest of the background is great.
@Diane_Miller Thank you! I will try brightening the bird a bit and see if it doesn’t look unnatural. @David_Bostock and @Lisa_Flanagan : thank you for the suggestion. Let me explain why I don’t remove (or add) anything to a picture. I try to stick by the rules of nature photography competitions where cloning is not permitted. I like to have an image right straight from the camera and I find that striving for that makes me more critical in the field. But sometimes it’s not possible (like here) to get it exactly right. So be it.
Thanks all for your comments! To most of you, the branch does seems to be distracting, so that answers my query
Hello, Ingrid - that sounds like a great place to sit and work … Love the overall image, but would be tempted to clone the OOF branch behind the bird out. Other than that, fine as presented ! Groetjes, Hans
) This angle involved having a branch behind it and a bit of blurry tree on the left. I don’t take away anything from a photo ever (except for the occasional slight crop), but do the blurry branch and tree annoy the viewer?