I set up some pieces of mossy bark from an old stump as a background to one of my pools, but this Spotted Towhee decided they made a better perch than a background.
Specific Feedback Requested
The direction of the light made for some shadows on the bird that I didn’t like so there are lots of little adjustments to the brightness of the plumage, mostly done in LR. Does it still look natural?
Technical Details
Is this a composite: No
A7Riv, FE 200-600 + 1.4 TC @ 526 mm, tripod with gimbal head, f/9, 1/320, iso 1600, manual exposure. Processed in LR & PS CC. Cropped to 7640x5344. Taken May 26th at 9 AM.
Hi Dennis
I think the Towhee was right about the old stomp and the detail, color, brightness and glint of the Towhee eye is vary nice. Good work on this photograph.
Peter
I agree with @peter! The towhee knew that was too dark of a background for him! He needed the lighter background so he would stand out more! Really nice job on this Dennis!
He chose a nice perch! Detail / IQ looks very good and I don’t see any issues resulting from tonal tweaks, but the bird and perch feel too underexposed. I’d also consider removing a bit from the top to decenter the bird.