Pushing the Limits and Color Balance

Image Critiques Avian Critiques
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It was dark and dismal around here when I went out to my blind this morning, so I took this image at some ridiculous setting. This isn’t my favorite pose of the morning, but I thought it was worth posting for the settings.

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What technical feedback would you like if any?

Ed @Ed_Fritz: I think I figured out the color issue and I think it was more me than the camera. In the overcast light I’ve had the last several days, the color temperature of the RAW file has shown around 4200-4500 (this one was 4200), so I’ve been warming the images probably to an excessive degree. I didn’t warm this one at all in ACR and following your sampling method the color balance in the black and whites both looked good with just a bit of extra blue as one would expect. After processing in PS, I did use the local adjustment brush with +5 warming on the face and shoulder, but that was the only color adjustment made.

Does this look better for colors than my last post?

What artistic feedback would you like if any?

Anything you’d like to comment on.

Any pertinent technical details:

7DII, Sigma 150-600 C @ 600 mm, gimbal head mounted to blind, f/8, 1/80, iso 5000, manual exposure. LR & PS CC. Noise reduction on the entire image using NeatImage, slight feather and perch enhancements using Topaz Detail. A bit of cloning on an excessively bright area at the left end of the perch.

You may only download this image to demonstrate post-processing techniques.
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I haven’t looked at your last post for comparison, but I can’t find a single nit here. Great facial and eye detail, a sticking point for me in animal portraiture, and the colors/light look just right for a bright overcast day. I’d be proud of the results, and I’m surely going to take a closer look at your processing methods.

Okay, one tiny nit. The great eye and feather details draw me right into the face. That effect might be strengthened with just a bit more detail in the beak. I won’t suggest how to do it within the realm of your processing methods, but a little more mid-tone in the beak is all it would take I think.

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Hi Dennis,

This one is better than your first attempt. Overall, you can dial down the cyans slightly if you feel that the warm colors are too muted. Well done…Jim

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Thanks, Hank. I’ll take a closer look at the beak.

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I think you did really well with the color balance here. The black plumage is especially well done and looks like a typical Pacific Northwest cloudy day. Much better when seen larger. I agree that the beak could be sharpened up a little. Nice.