Revised revision:
Revision:
Original:
Critique Style Requested: Standard
The photographer is looking for generalized feedback about the aesthetic and technical qualities of their image.
Description
Yesterday I was so happy to find this hawk, which I believe is a rough-legged, plus an adult and an immature bald eagle, an immature Cooper’s hawk, a redtail and a male Northern harrier in a one-mile stretch of road birding south of Fort Collins. I thought this was an osprey when I first saw it from the truck with the dark eye stripe and light head.
Specific Feedback
I’ve upped the exposure a lot, it’s still dark.
Technical Details
Fuji X-T5, 1/1250s, f/8.0, ISO 500, 420mm. Lightroom Denoise and sharpened a bit with Topaz Sharpen.
I love the array of branches it chose to perch in, Debbie. It’s hard to tell from the size you posted it, but the bird looks a trifle soft to me. Are you still having issues with your lens? The pose is excellent. It also sounds like you had a great morning.
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@Dennis_Plank This is actually my 70-300 lens and this is a big crop, the bird was way across a field. I’m sending the 100-400 lens to Fuji, when I went out with this smaller lens yesterday most of my shots were nicely sharp, so I’m pretty sure at this point there’s something off in the 100-400 where almost every shot looks like Monet… This one is a little soft, I can try to work on that.
Someone told me this is actually an immature light-phase ferruginous hawk. That looks right.
Hi Debbie, this is a terrific image, with a. great composition and pose. I have an app that identifies birds and it says this is either a Ferruginous Hawk or a Merlin (funny since that’s the name of the app). Anyway, sounds like you had a wonderful time in avian territory.
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@David_Bostock Yep, ferruginous hawk. I thought it was a rough-legged. Thanks for the comments, it was a great 20-minute birding session on the road.
A little bit on the soft side due in part to the crop. I would brighten the image slightly to reveal the eyes better. Other than that, a nice comp and a nice looking hawk…Jim
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A wonderful morning and a very nice image as a reward!! I think a little brightening with the Shadows slider in LR could make the bird pop even more. (Adding a tiny touch of Texture will often give a sharpening effect in the raw stage.)
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Debbie, I am not a “feather chaser” but I know a good day when I hear about one. The perch gives you an excellent chance to feature the bird. I would simplify the composition by eliminating many strong lines, drawing the eye out of the picture. For starters the large branch in the LR corner and the branch that looks like it is coming out of the bird don’t add to the composition. Then I would probably try to see what I could do with the others touching the frame’s edge. I might just leave him/her on a very simple perch with no branches leaving the frame. But that is just my take on this great capture.
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Yeah – visual balance or weight is how I think about it. You could crop the left 3/5 and clone the branch leading off to the left. Quite a lovely image worth the “version II” thing.
@Jim_Zablotny I agree, and will do an edit. Thanks!
@Diane_Miller Thank you! I’ll rework this image as soon as I can.
@Barbara_Djordjevic Thank you for the suggestions, I made an edit.
Nice work on the branches – I hadn’t even seen the one @Barbara_Djordjevic pointed out, but once you see it, it’s one of those can’t unsee things! But now the bird is pushed uncomfortably into the lower rt corner. I’d keep the framing on the bottom and rt and just remove the branches. The small one coming out of the main branch pointing toward the open sky is worth keeping – it provides a little balance. And then some off the left to remove some empty space.
I agree with @Diane_Miller. I think the large branch to the left could be allowed to go out of the frame if you remove the little top branch that is also touching the edge. It will help balance the image and fill all that empty space.
I lost track of which branches I needed to remove, but this looks pretty balanced to me (see Revised Revision).
I like your latest version, Debbie, but to tell the truth I didn’t see any reason for removing any branches from the original. I really like the increased warmth.
Yes!! The revised revision is wonderful!!
@Diane_Miller Thanks! I’m learning a lot about editing in Photoshop instead of only using Lightroom (and learning to use a Wacom tablet).
@Dennis_Plank Thanks, I’m on the fence about some of the branches, but removing the one apparently sticking out of the bird was a good call.
Revision works for me. Well done…Jim
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