The photographer is looking for generalized feedback about the aesthetic and technical qualities of their image.
Description
I arrived in Kerkini in Greece at the end of the day, but still wanted to have a good view of where I would start off the next day. Luckily I took my gear with me, as on the way back, I was offered a show by a flock of sparrows. They stayed low, right above the trees, as the light kept diminishing. Up went the ISO, down went the shutter speed, until finally they rose and passed in front of the snowy peaks. Luckily for them, the bird of prey was not seen again that evening.
Specific Feedback
Blue hour, blue pictures. Should I correct this still further than I already did?
Denoise in LR helped with the noise of the (very) high ISO. Any advice on how to manage this better?
Technical Details
Canon EOS R6
ƒ/6,3
1/640, then 1/320 and then 1/200
214 mm
12800 ISO
I think there’s a bit of an optical illusion going on that makes the blues appear more intense behind the flock, Xavier. Other than that, I tried just applying a curves layer without a whole lot of success. What worked reasonably well on the first image in PS was using a luminosity mask modified with a curves layer to turn the mask white on the sky then using the hue/saturation adjustments to modify the sky through the mask. In the mountain shot, you might have to treat the sky and the mountain separately to make it work. All three images are very good illustrations of flocking behavior and I love the one with the mountain background.
These shots document flocking behavior nicely and the presence of the raptor in the first photo emphasizes this well. The noise is handled well and the blue overall coloration is within reason. A quick and dirty way of reducing the impact of blues is to adjust the overall white balance of the scene to the warmer temperatures in Lightroom…Jim
Oh my goodness, that image with the mountain backdrop is off the charts great and a good landscape image to boot. I love that you included some clouds in the lower portion of the frame to give added depth and if you have even more canvas, I’d love to just a smidgen more along the bottom with those clouds.
That third image is also extremely nice and really shows the tight flight formations of these birds. Again, you’ve included just enough along the bottom to give the image a place with environment which I find very pleasing.
The first image doesn’t really work for me compared to the other two images bt I like the intent…This is why they flock with the predator bird approaching fast.
Thank you for your suggestions and appreciation. It is not everyday one sees such a flock. I’ll make sure to keep you posted the next time I stumble upon one…
Wonderful series Xavier. Love the second image with the mountain backdrop. The third heart image with the trees at the bottom provide a nice sense of place. Well done.
My mistake, John. These are starlings of course. In Dutch, one of the languages we speak in Belgium, starlings are called ‘spreeuw’. Hence the confusion in MY mind. Thanks for being so observant.
Oh no worries whatsoever. I’m sure there are more birds that flock this way than I have seen around here, and I’m always curious about new species. Cheers!
