The photographer is looking for generalized feedback about the aesthetic and technical qualities of their image.
Description
This Red-bellied Woodpecker was working over the trunk of this palm tree at Merritt Island NWR in Florida early one morning as my wife and I were trying to spot manatees along the boat canal viewing area.
Specific Feedback
The BG is very busy. I lifted the shadows quite a bit on this woodpecker and tried to keep the BG darker. Any suggestions for composition, cropping and how to tame the BG are welcomed.
Technical Details
Canon 60D, f6.3, 1/4000s, iso 400, -1 ev, 400mm.
Critique Template
Use of the template is optional, but it can help spark ideas.
Hi Ed, a fine image with nice details on the bird. Always love seeing these guys. Great look at that red eye. I think if you took out the vertical branch in the BG intersecting the bird that would go a long way in taming the background overall. I could see trying to place the bird more in the lower part of the frame rather than center if you have the room (a small nit there though). A fine catch!
Lovely detail in the woodpecker, Ed and I like the composition. The bright vertical branch crossing behind the woodpecker is a bit of a distraction that tends to try to pull my eye right past the subject.
Ed, you really captured nice details in this woodpecker. Not sure how high he was in the tree (that’s usually my problem with the woodpeckers), but it looks like you captured him about eye level, which is nice. I can’t think of anything to improve than what others have suggested. Nice.
Thank you @Allen_Sparks, @Dennis_Plank and @Shirley_Freeman. I did some fancy cloning artwork to remove the bright branch going behind the woodpecker. I hope it’s not too obvious.
Ed, really nice detail and pose from this fellow, and great colours. Nice work on the re-post. Now, if it were mine, I’d run a lasso around the bird, invert, and darken the BG a bit more.
A very fine image!
