Horrible Background

Image Critiques Avian Critiques
1

This was one from Ridgefield. The background was very messy and the sunlit portions of the bird were very bright with the shadows almost black. I used a Gaussian Blur on the background to try to tame it a bit and used some TK luminosity masks and exposure adjustments to bring up the shadows. This haw was just about to launch-two frames later it was spreading it’s wings and in another two it was airborne.

20181203-_7D21308Ridgefield-Editlarge%20npn
20181203-_7D21308Ridgefield-Editlarge%20npn1028×1200 837 KB

What technical feedback would you like if any?

Did the processing work at all?

What artistic feedback would you like if any?

Does the tension in the hawk come through?

Any pertinent technical details:

7DII, Sigma 150-600 C @ 600 mm, beanbag on car window, f/8, 1/2500, iso 1000, manual exposure. Processed in LR & PS CC. Topaz AI Clear for noise reduction.

You may only download this image to demonstrate post-processing techniques.
2

Dennis - Great hawk worth salvaging! :grinning:

How about dropping out the whole messy BG , or leaving only a very few thin blurred branches not intersecting the bird?
Sandy

3

The tension and focus of the hawk does come through very well. The background is nicely blurred. Perhaps desaturating it, or darkening it or both could emphasize the hawk even more. Tedious, but if you have a mask that would let you do it might be worth a try.