Female Purple Martin

Image Critiques Weekly Challenge
1

-20250414-_SA13009-untitled-ARW-Edit-Edit-Edit.jpg
-20250414-_SA13009-untitled-ARW-Edit-Edit-Edit.jpg2048×1924 843 KB

Critique Style Requested: Standard

The photographer is looking for generalized feedback about the aesthetic and technical qualities of their image.

Description

I posted this in color in the Avian forum a while ago and included the perch she was leaving with some more room for her. When I reprocessed it in B&W it seemed to work better with the squarish crop.

Specific Feedback

I decided to take the background sky to close to white as 20% gray or whatever it was just didn’t feel like it would work. Does the white sky work?

Technical Details

Sony A1, FE 200-600 + 1.4 TC @ 840 mm, hand held, f/9, 1/1600, iso 2500. Initial processing in DxO PureRaw 4, main processing in LR & PS CC. Cropped to 3116x2928 (could have gone square, I guess). Converted to B&W by using a Lights 1 luminosity filter and exporting the mask as a pixel layer (thanks for the TK panel, Tony).

Critique Template

Use of the template is optional, but it can help spark ideas.

  • Vision and Purpose:
  • Conceptual:
  • Emotional Impact and Mood:
  • Composition:
  • Balance and Visual Weight:
  • Depth and Dimension:
  • Color:
  • Lighting:
  • Processing:
  • Technical:
3 Likes
2

What a wonderful image. The bird has enough room to fly in, and the white background works very well. With the wings open it creates a triangle and the square crop fits very well. This is outstanding!

3

I really love the clarity of the bird, it looks so real and as if it is coming right at me. The black and white really works wonderfully here.

4

OUTSTANDING.!!! I don’t understand the technical things you did to capture this beautiful image. Really amazing. The Tone and Lines and the sharpness. Really nice Dennis.

5

Dennis, there’s a touch of an Audubon Print in this (although he did color for the birds), with the white background and the striking details in the bird.

6

Great capture - I love the textures in the head feathers - I’m wondering if you could extract a tiny bit more texture from that dark patch between the wings? Probably best to leave the realistic shadow there.

7

Hi Mike. I can give that a try. It’s kind of an overlap of the dark blue back patch with the shadow from the wing, so it might be tricky.

8

Cool, wonderful and refreshingly different! No reason not to appreciate birds in B/W! Details are excellent and the BG makes it an Audubon. The crop is just fine for my tastes. I’m in awe of beign able to capture these guys in flight. We have mobs of Swallows lately, which are probably similar for challenging photography, but no way to even think about capturing one. A+++!

9

Dennis: I love the expression and the dynamism of the comp. The white sky works great. Most excellent.>=))>

10

This one works very well as a high key BW photo. I have no nits for you because I find this one to be very good regarding comp, action, and sharpness. …Jim