We have lots of raptors wintering in Southern Arizona. The Merlin has been elusive but, today sat nicely on a perch and even let me walk around enough so he wasn’t into the sun. Cloudy day.
Specific Feedback Requested
Several photos have solid gray backgrounds because it was gray. Any ideas on how to make it more interesting. I have several flying so, there is nothing else in the picture. I didn’t try PS Sky replacement. Maybe I need a bigger selection of skys or some other backgrounds.
Any suggestions would be helpful.
Technical Details
Is this a composite: No
Canon R6. Sigma 150-600 C, 600mm, f/6.3, 1/1600 sec, ISO 400
LR adjustments and Topaz Denoise. Cropped to 20%
A really lovely look at the Merlin. Well focused and lots of fine detail. I also like the pose. I do not mind the sky as is. It looks like excellent light on the bird. The only thing I would check out is how the photo would look with the top branch removed and the bird moved a bit up and left if you can. Nice one.
Wonderful detail and lighting, and a nice pose for the perch. I second removing the upper branch, and possibly the OOF ones coming in from the LR. I would be tempted to lift the darks a bit. The gray BG works for me.
There is a bit of an artificial look, I think from a little too much noise removal and/or sharpening.
Beautiful image of this Merlin, Charlie. It does look almost artificial with the glorious light on the bird and the plain gray background combined with the beautiful sharpness, but it certainly doesn’t turn me off. I think I’d get rid of the branch above the bird and cut back on the corner vignettes.
Beautiful pose and focus on this bird. I’m fine either way with the upper branch. The background works fine especially with the great light on the bird. I agree with Dennis on the vignette as it needs to blend into the photo more smoothly.
Love seeing merlins. My comments would largely mirror Diane’s. I’d remove the upper branch but probably keep the ones on the left. I also agree that the image looks over-sharpened (the big crop probably contributed to the over-sharpness).
Beautiful look at the Merlin. My first thought wasn’t that it was over-sharpened, but rather that it had a painterly feel to it-like something from Audubon. I like it. I agree with Dennis about the vignette and the others regarding the small branch. If this were mine, I’d probably see what I could do about removing the OOF branches in the RLC.
The repost is excellent, Charlie. The plumage looks much more natural. You should edit your post to add “And Repost” to the title, so people know to look again.
