The photographer is looking for thoughtful feedback on the image as a whole, especially around the areas noted below.
Feedback Focus: Artistic / Expressive
About This Image
I scrolled back through my old Lightroom files and found this diamond in the rough of a Mississippi kite that showed up near Ann Arbor, Michigan during the peak of the 17 year cicada emergence. I caught the bird glaring at me as the clouds cleared off slightly. The RAW file was not that impressive and tried some subject and background masking to see what I could achieve. I darkened and increased the contrast in the sky while increasing the exposure, reducing shadows, increasing contrast and clarity of the subject. The sun was directional coming from the West which produced a very 3D effect from the soft shadows present. This is a fairly heavy crop, but am pleased with the overall quality.
Feedback Requested
How do you feel about the blues present in the sky? Should I drop down the cyans slightly? I always have trouble guessing on how to edit blue sky in many digital images.
For a “not that impressive raw file” you ended up with a very fine image, Jim. The plumage detail is excellent and I like the pose. I would definitely not want to be a cicada it was looking at. The only minor nit I found was the Kite’s right eye looks a bit odd. When I zoomed in it looked like there was a light area in the pupil. It’s probably a reflection but it’s just a bit unsettling.
Thank you @Dennis_Plank for the critique. Yes, this bird has an abnormal eye and there was evidence of a cataract and corneal scarring. I decided to leave it as is, because it showed resilience and toughness. The bird was hunting successfully and seemed to not be bothered by this issue…Jim
Hi Jim, great look from the bird. So piercing. The image quality held up very well to the crop. The blue looks good to me and I like the presence of clouds as well. Well done.
Ooh that stare! And I really like the whole underside being visible since it strengthens the overall menace. What a predator! The talons are almost as impressive as the glare. Cyans look fine to me and the soft clouds work well to set off the bird and its somewhat pointy nature. Glad you dug this one up! It’s amazing what modern editing software can do these days.
That somewhat malevolent stare makes the shot for me, Jim. The sky looks fine. Excellent detail. Good reminder to go back over old files as the editing software has improved and hopefully our editing skills as well.
