Female Red-winged Blackbird

Image Critiques Avian Critiques
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Female Red Winged Blackbird2.jpg
Female Red Winged Blackbird2.jpg2000Ă—1332 171 KB

Critique Style Requested: Standard

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

Description

I photographed this red-winged blackbird under overcast conditions in the late afternoon as the light was beginning to fade. I had spent several hours trying to photograph a Little Green Heron in the same area but was unable to get a clean shot without a cluttered background. Frustrated, I headed for the car but along the I noticed the male and female blackbirds landing on these large lily pads and chattering with each other. I was fortunate to be able to get this shot.

Specific Feedback

While I’d prefer to be shooting in golden hour lighting conditions, morning or late in the day, sometimes overcast lighting can work. This photo was developed in Lightroom Classic. I used the new LR DeNoise tool as the ISO was relatively high at 2,000. It was sharpened in LRC.

Here are some questions:

Is the foreground too busy?
Are the highlights and background too bright?
How’s the crop?

Thanks, John Scott

Technical Details

Camera: Nikon Z9
Lens: Nikkor Z 400mm f/2.8 TC VR S
Focal Length: 560mm; Focal Length 35mm 840mm
Exposure: 1/2500 at f/4
Exposure Bias: +1/3 EV
ISO: 2000
Handheld

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Hi John. Thanks for posting this. We have a pond in this area that’s heavy with water lilies and it can be challenging to find a good background and foreground. I think you did a fine job of finding one here. The perch is excellent as is the pose of the bird. The lily pads are in nice condition and the other little bits of foreground vegetation on the lower left don’t distract from the subject significantly. All that green does a nice job of conveying the habitat.

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Hi John,

The short answer to all of your questions at once is: “It Works Well As Presented”!

The color of the bird and the greens in the environment compliment each other very well IMHO.
The green color cast on the belly of the bird acts as a natural transition from green to yellow and that works very well, too! :slight_smile:

Very nice! :slight_smile:

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Thanks Dennis. Glad you liked it. John

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Thanks Marvin. I missed the green color cast on the belly of the bird. Appreciate the feedback and assessment.

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John, that green color cast on the belly is a plus, it belongs there in my opinion.

Thanks for the response! :slight_smile:

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Yes, I thought that was what you meant. I appreciate your point as I might have defaulted to removing it had I noticed it. Thanks again.

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Gotcha! Thanks for the explanation. :slight_smile:

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Hi John, this works well for me as is. The greens in the image sets the bird off nicely. I like the pose of the bird with open beak and also the bird’s position in the frame. Well done.

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Thanks Allen for your assessment. I appreciate it. John

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Hello! I see a wave beside your hand which means you are new in NPN town so welcome. This is a great place to get feedback!

I love the colour story and action of this photo! The greens are wonderful and in my (more limited) experience really difficult to achieve.

If I may give some feedback on the crop I think the large leaf on the left may be too predominant. I might try bring in the top left corner in and leave half or the big leaf…creates a framing effect. Or maybe a different aspect ratio to cut it out completely.

I do think this is a wow shot!

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Thank you for your assessment. I see your point about the large leaf. I agree it’s a bit too dominating. I had to make a choice, I thought, leave it or perhaps crop to a 4 x 5 vertical, but I opted to leave it as is. However, I posted a vertical on Instagram and people liked it quite well.

1 Like