Critique Style Requested: Standard
The photographer is looking for generalized feedback about the aesthetic and technical qualities of their image.
Description
Was turning a round at a small lot when I noticed this flicker in a tree some distance away. I stopped and was in a good position to watch this bird. I had hopes it would come closer. It did. The bird dropped to the ground and began foraging towards me. There was a small open area of grass I hoped it would enter, it never did. I was able to track it as it moved towards me and finally moved to a less closed in area and I was able to take several shots of it.
Specific Feedback
Not much I could do about all the litter.
Technical Details
Canon R 7, RF-200-800mm @ 800mm.
1/1600 @ F-10 ISO 4000
Taken from a car.
The colors and detail really bring the bird to life. Looks as if you had some nice light on the bird. Nice capture.
John, the detail and color in the feathers is wonderful, and they are nice and sharp. Of course, that sharp focus also captures the background. Do you use Photoshop? The remove tool is a friend in situations like this. I downloaded it and worked on the background. A lot more clutter could be removed. I also masked the bird and darkened the midtones. Then I reversed the mask and darkened the background midtones and shadows. Finally, I burned around the edges.
Nice catch, John and your patience was well rewarded. The background clutter doesn’t bother me much, though I would pull down the highlights quite a bit as the brighter areas tend to pull the eye. @Barbara_Djordjevic did a great job of removing some of the larger distractions.
A nice catch John. I understand that ants are a common food for this bird so having one on the ground makes sense. I agree with darkening the image some as Barbara did.
