And a slightly better treatment for the underexposed bird. Instead of pushing Shadows I pushed exposure and then had to select the BG to darken it. That caused some issues with masking but I think the bird is better.
The original, no adjustments:
And in the sun:
Critique Style Requested: Standard
The photographer is looking for generalized feedback about the aesthetic and technical qualities of their image.
Description
I should title this A Salvage Job. My favorite birds seem to always be in the shade with a sunny BG. I got her a few minutes later on a different branch, in the sun, and almost deleted this first one, then I decided to see how it would clean up. Nothing but global adjustments in LR and a crop. I like it better than the one with decent light! (Later I’ll go into PS to remove the highlight in the BG – running on borrowed time just now.)
Specific Feedback
All comments welcome!
Technical Details
Nothing but LR denoise, crop and global adjustments. A very slight vignette added.
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Both the first and third image really look great. Number three has the head turn and the lighting is excellent. As you well know this time of year is rather transitional in the Pacific Northwest and also in California. What’s the first of the third background are quite nice although I might try to defocus the first background a little more.
Nice adjustments, Diane. Personally, my preference is for the third image, though I think the first would work with a looser composition and some more careful adjustments. I don’t know how it happened, but in the original I can see fine plumage detail everywhere on the bird even though it’s dark. However in the first image there’s a patch on the upper breast that lost all detail and some of the other plumage is looking overly coarse to my eye. With your processing skills, which are far better than mine, I’m sure you can make it look a lot better.
Fine images Diane. I especially like the third one for the pose (nice head turn), details, and background. The recovery of detail in the first is impressive given the original but I agree with Dennis on some coarse feathers and some areas being more painterly.
Thanks, @David_Schoen, @Dennis_Plank and @Allen_Sparks! The issue with the first, which almost made me delete it, was the very high ISO (3200) and underexposure of the bird in the shade. I didn’t take time to adjust settings and well I didn’t as this is the only shot I got. But I thought it might be fun to see what I could do with it. The issue is the amount of noise and the relatively small features close to the same frequency. I just went back and tried the NR in Topaz Denoise and Topaz Photo, with very similar results. Although Denoise is amazing, it isn’t perfect yet.
I went back and did not use the Shadows slider, just increased Exposure, which was a little kinder to the underexposed bird. Did LR denoise on that and then into PS to select the BG and darken it. It’s a little better, but the moral of the story is that getting closer with good light is the best. Posted above FWIW.
I like the last one best, Diane. The head turn gives a more dynamic pose and the background has some complementary cool and warm colors.
