The photographer is looking for generalized feedback about the aesthetic and technical qualities of their image.
Description
This pair of Norther Flickers were quite active. I spent about an hour watching and photographing before finally capturing this moment. I have a few photos of single flickers, but this interaction was unique to me.
Specific Feedback
It is quite heavily cropped. I initially used a vertical crop that included more of the tree and all of the second hole above, then changed to this crop which I thought allowed space for the wing. Any feedback on this composition is appreciated.
Technical Details
Camera Settings: 1/2500s @ f/4.5, ISO 12800
Lens: 400mm f/4.5
Processing Notes:
This is actually two images taken 1/10s apart and combined in Photoshop. In one image the flicker on the right had his wing extended, and the other image had the flicker in the hole with his mouth open. I added them as layers in PS then just erased the flicker in the hole to reveal it with it’s mouth open. I normally do not like the idea of compositing wildlife images, but I think if I had my camera set to 20fps, I might not have actually captured it in one image (lesson learned!).
Since the ISO was quite high (12800), before editing I ran both images through DxO PureRAW which did a nice job cleaning things up.
After processing in PS, I used Lightroom to do some minor editing (shadows, highlight, vibrance, etc…)
Critique Template
Use of the template is optional, but it can help spark ideas.
A wonderful opportunity and an excellent capture! I have no issue with the “double exposure” and applaud your being able to pull it off. Very nice noise handling.
A fairly minor thing comes to mind. I think a graduated burn from the left could help keep the eye in the frame and balance the darker tones on the right, giving a more dynamic 3D look to the trunk. But it would be a minor tweak on a very cool image.
Very well done, Tom. I certainly don’t have any problem with combining the images. I’ve done it and as long as it’s disclosed I think it’s perfectly OK. I think Diane’s burn idea might be a nice tweak. I’d usually do something like that in LR because it’s so easy to do a linear mask there and you can combine different effects through the same mask so easily, but that’s probably just me, since I’ve never found PS’s graduated filters intuitive to use.
Thanks for the comments and suggestions. I added a grad filter in LR as suggested and reduced the highlights and whites a bit. I like how it brings out some of texture.
Nice job on the revision, Tom. It’s easier for viewers to compare different versions of an image if you add it to the original post, preferably at the top. You can do it by going to the bottom of your original post:
Clicking on the pencil icon which takes you into the edit mode. Navigating to the top of the edit screen, and clicking on the upload icon which is the horizontal rectangle with the arrow pointing up:
As long as your cursor is at the top of the edit screen it will put the new version there. Since you’re already in the edit mode, you can label the original and the new version as such and add the phrase “and repost” or equivalent to your title. Then just click on the yellow block at the bottom of the edit screen to accept the changes.
Hi Tom, great interaction captured and using a composite with disclosure is fine. Love seeing the open wings of the bird on the right. Sharpness looks good even with the crop. Rework looks good too. Really fine image.
Not being an image processor at all, I do understand your thinking, and I appreciate that you describe what you did to get this image. It has turned out beautiful! Well done, and apart from increasing the frame rate or being more patient 'til this happens again , I see no better way of achieving this result. Nice!
Grt, Ingrid.
, I see no better way of achieving this result. Nice!