Perching on the background

Image Critiques Avian Critiques
1

Perching on the background
Perching on the background1500×1049 206 KB

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.

2 Likes
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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

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I agree with @Peter_Morrissey! The towhee knew that was too dark of a background for him! :grinning_face_with_smiling_eyes: He needed the lighter background so he would stand out more! Really nice job on this Dennis!

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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.