The photographer is looking for generalized feedback about the aesthetic and technical qualities of their image.
Description
The birds are fueling up for the long journey back to Russia, crossing North Korea (good luck!). This male long-tailed rosefinch was enjoying rich pickings of forsythia buds this morning. For once he let me get quite close as he spat out the husks and swallowed the green buds. He’s normally very shy, owing to his bright color, which makes him so conspicuous, unlike the grey-brown females. They’re uncommon in Korea, especially a male like this in breeding plumage.
Specific Feedback
This bird always seems to be behind at least one branch, which of course attracts autofocus. I think the sharpness is acceptable here, but I really should have tried manual focus. Next time!
Technical Details
OM1 +100-400mm + TC1.4 (@ 560mm) 1/1000 f9 ISO 800
Basic tone adjustments in LR and local sharpening of head area. Denoise. In PS: Shadows, Highlights and minor Curves, removed some bits and pieces and cropped well in.
He looks sharp to me, Mike. The eye AF can sometimes help in situations like this. I’m not sure how the OM1 AF system is set up, but back in the bad old days, my Canon cameras had a very small single AF point (anchored to the center, unfortunately) that I could use in this kind of situation to peek between the branches and get the focus, then recompose. Since you mentioned cropping, if the background doesn’t get too ugly outside the frame, I’d consider loosening up your composition a tad, since, to my eye, the bird feels a little crowded.
Excellent, with pleasing color and detail!! The cluttered BG (but not unpleasantly cluttered) sort of explains the branch in front of the bird. I think they feel that a single twig like that is giving them some cover.
Hi Mike. You certainly are finding some nice birds out in your part of the World. I like the pose and hope that one shows up in a less cluttered spot, but still a keeper of a photo. Bird is very sharp and I like how you handled the brights in the scene. Well done…Jim
Very nice photo. I think the sharpness if fine and the branch in front of the bird doesn’t bother me, as that is part of the bird’s environment and you would expect to see branches or other vegetation.
@Allen_Brooks@Dennis_Plank@Peter_Morrissey@richard27@Jim_Zablotny@Diane_Miller - thanks for the replies. I didn’t mind the branch in front too much, as it was the center of the bird’s bud-stripping attentions. But I’m still hoping for a clear shot as I find this bird very beautiful. @Dennis_Plank : I had the single AF point setting,
but as I was clicking away with many shots, I think the spot was often on the branch. I find it so hard to discipline myself to just take one careful, considered shot in a situation like this when I feel I may never get the chance again with the bird!
I’ve been there many, many times, Mike. It’s why I like more extended trips. I get a chance to calm down. The first day I usually take an absurd number of photographs, usually not thought out at all and throw almost all of them away. But even in the backyard, when a different species shows up, I go banging away.
