The photographer is looking for generalized feedback about the aesthetic and technical qualities of their image.
Description
Male pheasants can often be seen and more often been heard, but in general they are pretty shy in my region. This one wasn’t and the bird posed for a while. The plumage is at its best now, in the breeding season, and I liked this pose the best from the various shots that I took. Although the light is a bit dull.
Specific Feedback
Anything that you can think of.
Technical Details
Pentax K3 Mk. III, Pentax 150-450 @310mm, ISO800, f/7.1, 1/800sec.
RAW development in DxO PL6, very little editing except for a small change in curves, and I cleaned up some of the brighter leaves in the grass.
Excellent image, Han. Not surprising that they’re shy since they were brought here as game birds and are hunted intensively. Your composition works for me, though I think you could come in just a tiny bit on the right. The dull light actually works well to bring out colors in the plumage. If you select the bird and treat it separately, a slight increase in brightness and bit of a boost in saturation can really make it pop from the background. I usually start with .2 stops in brightness and bring the saturation up by seven points on the PS slider, then tweak it to where I like it. Those settings aren’t enough to make it look odd, but will usually make it stand out a bit.
An impressive portrait of this beautiful bird Han. Clean and sharp with eye contact and a nice pose. My only thought is maybe to tone down the green of the grass a little, on my monitor it’s quite strong.
We have plenty of these birds in my part of the UK, they were introduced a couple of hundred years ago and are now very common on the South Downs where I live. Such a spectacular bird should really be a bit more appreciated.
I would like to get a good photo of one flying, but in my experience it all happens very fast when they are disturbed, there’s a lot of noise and they’re gone!
Beautiful shot, outstanding colors. brings back memories of my youth in south central PA when an evening drive from Harrisburg to Hershey and back may display over a hundred birds in the fields. Sadly, now your lucky to see one stocked for hunting seasons. Thanks for stirring my memory.
