Snow Steller

Image Critiques Avian Critiques
1

Snowsteller.jpg
Snowsteller.jpg1531×1141 381 KB

Critique Style Requested: Standard

The photographer is looking for generalized feedback about the aesthetic and technical qualities of their image.

Description

We recently have been getting some snow and I’ve been enjoying trying for some bird captures out back. Here’s a moment I got of a steller’s jay rousing. I like how they splay out their crest in bad weather.

Specific Feedback

Cropping? Anything?

Technical Details

Z9, 180-600 lens, Nikon 1.4 TC, monopod, 1/500th, 8.5mm, 750mm, ISO 22800, cropped to 3924 x 2927

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3 Likes
2

Snow is always a fun time to shoot, Dave and this image is a good example of both the pros and the cons of shooting in it. I really like the snowflakes coming down, but I also really wish that flake that was in the foreground and blurred the base of the beak hadn’t been there. The pose is really cool and I love the perch.

3

The snow adds a lot to the image. A nice look at the jay with all those feathers splayed.

4

You caught a super pose and the processing looks good! The blurry flake @Dennis_Plank tagged could be mitigated with a quick masked Curves/Levels adjustment to darken the darkest tones. The dark green area on the right blocks the feeling of potential movement, for me at least. I would consider lightening it to more match the rest of the BG. If this is a crop, going back to the full version could give more areas to sample from. I love the quality of the BG – the degree of interest and the subdued contrast. Excellent catch!

5

Hey Dave, I love the pose here. Excellent. I like the sinuous branch too. Well seen.

6

Dave, what a great pose! The comp is good, and the bit of snow on the branch is excellent.
From here, the whole image is pretty soft. Your 1/500th wasn’t enough to freeze the motion. With birds, even stationary ones, I’m usually set a 1/2000 or faster. You never know when they will hop or start tio fly; then you’re ready with adequate SS.
The conditions here sound as if you couldn’t use a faster SS if you’re already at an ISO of 22,800, though. You did well to reduce the noise at that level.
As far as that snowflake, a simple Gen Fill would likely remove that . No need for anything fancier.
Nice catch!

7

Dave: the image is remarkably sharp given that the bird looks about to fly away and at ISO 22K. I like the bird’s pose and snowy environment. My only suggestion would be to desaturate the large green patch on the right.

8

Hi Dave,

Ill trade you a blue jay for one of these guys. I agree with othe viewers on reducing the imact of the green patch on the RH side. Bird is reasonably sharp, but with brighter conditions you would have been able to crank up the exposure speed to nail the action better. Well done…Jim