I shot this Mountain Bluebird in August. I generally prefer natural perches but this fence isn’t so common. I like the soft colors of the background. My self-critique is that I wish I’d shot at a little deeper DOF, focus is a little soft on the bird but other than that I’m pretty happy with the shot.
What technical feedback would you like if any?
I am always looking for what others see that I don’t so any feedback is appreciated.
What artistic feedback would you like if any?
Any
Any pertinent technical details:
Canon 7d II, Canon 100-400 II @ 400mm, 1/1600, f5.6, ISO 400
You may only download this image to demonstrate post-processing techniques.
Hi Terri: I like the perch for this image. The repeating patterns of the pickets all work together well. Placement of the bluebird in the composition works nicely. My initial reaction is that the image is too bright. I did a quick adjustment to see if I thought it would benefit from a luminance adjustment. This adjustment is just a Lights 1 Mask from the TK suite on a curves adjustment layer with the blending mode set to Multiply. The curve was not adjusted in any way. See if you like this. I don’t know your intent with the scene.
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The fence has nice texture an contrast with the barbed wire. I like the colors in the image. They go really well with the bird. I think if it was mine I would crop in from the right side perhaps one fence post.
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Hi Terri. I think I agree with both Keith and David as to suggestions. The contrast of the textures in the fence and the creamy smooth background make for a lovely image.
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I like the overall composition. Agree that Keith’s changes improve an already good image.
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Thanks Keith for the edit. I do like it and will play with that a bit.
Thanks for the feedback. I agree that your crop suggestion would also make a nice photo. I’m likely to get that suggestion often as I tend to prefer the Fibonacci grid over the rule of thirds. But I’m fickle and use both. 
Terri: there is a simplicity to this photo that is very appealing. I also like the muted color palette as it mimics the coloration of the bird. It’s a wall hanger. Richard
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Good day to you all, and a good photo. I think this photo goes a long way in displaying the typical environment for this bird. So often I tend to crop to tight deleting a piece off the image that could very well add to or complete the story. The shallow DOF does a great job of isolating the subject.
I tend to agree with the earlier comments in that the original image seems a bit bright for me.
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