Critique Style Requested: Standard
The photographer is looking for generalized feedback about the aesthetic and technical qualities of their image.
I got this shot of an inflight Lewis’s woodpecker near its nest hole.
Cropping? How do I get the color cast to not have a purplish sky? The original does not.
Z9, Nikon 200-500 lens, 1/3200th, 570mm, ISO 1000, f 8.0, hand held, cropped to 2606 x 1691
Hi Dave, nice in flight pose - love the outstretched far wing and fanned tail. Looks sharp even though it is hard to tell with the small size posted.
Did you use sRGB color?
I sized it to just under 3 MB per something I just read on here. I typically try for right at 10 MB for photos I post here. I had photoshop set for RGB color. I set this one to sRGB. I always have my camera set to natural light auto white balance. I also resized it to right at 10 MB. I see it still has the purple going, unlike the original looks. Any further ideas on correcting the color? Thanks.
I’m not sure what’s going on with the color, Dave. When I downloaded it, the sky changed color as well.
Hi Dave,
Updating photoshop can sometimes change your previous settings back to default so they may need to be set again. That happened to me when I recently updated to Photoshop 2024 even though Ps updates are supposed to remember previous settings for working color space profile and export profile settings.
I guess photoshop is going through some growing pains with all the new features.
BTW, I noticed in the properties for your image that it was processed in Photoshop 24 (the new 2024 version).
I also noticed that your image was exported as “ProPhoto RGB”, that is the working color space which is good, but, there are a couple of settings that need to be changed in order to export the image as sRGB. sRGB is the standard color space that makes all colors pretty much the same for everyone no matter what they use to view it (iPad, cell phone, laptop, desktop, etc.).
Below is a couple of screenshots that show what settings need to be changed. These settings should stick with with future updates but there’s no guarantee for that.
I converted your image to sRGB so let’s see if that helps.
Next, I done a screenshot showing where to set the export profile to sRGB (Convert to Profile) in the main edit menu.
Next, I added a screenshot showing what boxes to check in the Export As window.
And finally, NPN is pretty strict about uploading images under 3MB, Downsizing the image to roughly 2000 or 2500 pixels at the longest side usually works but you may have to set the Quality slider at the top right of the Export As window to level 6, there’s a huge difference between level 7 and level 6 for image file sizes.
Wonderful image, BTW!! Love the perspective and the presence of a graceful “setting up for a landing” look.
Anyway, I hope this all makes sense and I hope it helps! 
Edit: Please don’t pay any attention to the colors in the “Preview” section of the “Export As” window, that color doesn’t represent the final image color after exporting, Adobe really should fix that issue!
I’m just happy to know that it worked out for you, Dave!
Helping other photographers with such things is what I enjoy doing the most (other than creating my own nature images this is 
).
Love the image you just posted!!! Great wing position, eye and beak detail as well as a perfect perspective in my view!
Nice work!
Wow, great detail in your image Dave and enjoying the pose you captured. Glad you fixed the purple background too. I only wish for a bit more exposure on the bird itself.
Hi Dave
A few weeks back, I spent an hour watching podcast on DXO’s Wide Gamut vs Classic (legacy) color spacing and how ProPhoto RGB, Adobe RGB and sRGB interact. Mervin has the right approach to this problem. Converting the wider Gamut to sRGB can change the finial output.
Any back to your photograph, this is a shot I hope for and work at every time I go out to photograph birds. Very cool.
Peter
