I had a nice chuckle at this image when I viewed it, as it appears that the Bluebird was trying to fly low to go unseen by his adversary, the Mockingbird, and the look on the Mockingbird seems to be a mean look, like “I know you are there and I will pursue the chase”. The Mockingbirds have given our Bluebirds a really difficult time as they are trying to set up housekeeping and raise their family. The Mockingbirds think they own our yard, and no other bird is allowed in it. They chase everything off that will let them.
Specific Feedback Requested
Anything that might improve the image.
Technical Details
Is this a composite: No
Canon 7D Mark II, Sigma 150-600 mm HH at f10, 1/3200, ISO 1600. Edited in LR and Topaz AI Clear.
Great catch on the flying Bluebird, Shirley. The only think I could see changing is to take some canvas off the left and add some on the right to decenter the action and give the Bluebird more room to fly into. Given the uniformity of the background, content-aware should do a pretty good job of it with minimal cleanup.
Awesome catch!! You captured wonderful detail on the Bluebird, with the shutter speed freezing action so well, and the menacing Mockingbird is quite sharp enough.
My Bluebirds are being badly harassed by Acorn Woodpeckers, who are trying to peck at the babies in a nest box, and they are not big enough to chase them away. If I see them out the kitchen window I explode out the door screaming obscenities and that seems to work for a while.
Oh wow! What a great catch and story to go along with it! I didn’t know Mockingbirds were aggressive to all birds! I thought it was just the big raptors that they tried to chase away! I hope your bluebirds can stand their ground!
Wonderful capture, Shirley! The detail in both the mockingbird and the blue bird are great. I do agree with @Dennis_Plank on the crop, as I like the idea of off center and also giving the bluebird a place to go. Nicely done.
Thank you, everyone. I do appreciate your input, and that you do like the image. I spent more time than I had to spend trying my hand in PS to do Content Aware as @Dennis_Plank suggested, which I think is a great idea, and I didn’t like how it made it look almost smooth green, rather than matching the rest of the wheat field. I will try again another time if time allows. I should learn the tool, as it is a very nice one for images such as this one.
Interesting that the content aware didn’t want to work for you, Shirley. I took the liberty of downloading your image and in Photoshop I just went to the crop tool, made sure “content aware” in the top bar was on, pulled in the left side , pulled out the right side and hit “enter”. I didn’t do any clean-up at all. You might have to make sure you’re sampling all layers or you’re on the background layer when you do it.
Oh wow, that looks good, Dennis. As I suspected, user error. I have not been using PS hardly at all, and certainly haven’t done Content Aware. I will go back and try what you said you did, and see if I can make it happen. Another day when I have some time. I am a caregiver for my husband who has the early stages of Alzheimers/dementia, and some days he needs more of my attention than others, and today has been that kind of day, at least the afternoon. Thanks so much for showing me that it can be done, and how it will look. Very nice.
Thank you, @Dennis_Plank , for your guidance. I went back today and followed your instructions, and it worked. I will upload it. I am so pleased. An old dog has learned a new trick!!!
