I must say, I like the way this one worked. Background is from another foggy morning with some added blur.
I’ll look at expanding the frame next.
Critique Style Requested:Standard
The photographer is looking for generalized feedback about the aesthetic and technical qualities of their image.
Description
We had some nice fog this morning with the sun starting to give it some glow and there were a lot of swallows in the yard, so I grabbed the camera and went out to see what I could make of it.
Specific Feedback
I’ve always been a sucker for this kind of pose and I managed to get a couple that I liked. Does the perch compete too much with the bird?
Technical Details
Sony A1, FE 200-600 + 1.4 TC @ 840 mm, hand held, f/9, 1/2000, iso 2500. Noise reduction in DxO PureRaw 4, Other processing in LR & PS CC. Cropped to 3368x4512 from a horizontal original. Microcontrast enhancement of plumage and minor local adjustments of luminosity, texture and white balance.
Critique Template
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Really nice shot. Love the colors. I’d like to see more of the perch and space. Maybe positioning the bird and perch on the left side if cropping allowed?
Dennis: This is pretty cool. Love the perch, the pose and the detail. I’m getting the itch to try to get into birding and giving the new Sony 400-800 some serious consideration. It’s kind of that or a new A7RV. Of course I would use the A7RV a lot more so the $$$ might be better spent there, especially since I love landscape more than I think I might love birds. Would appreciate your insights. >=))>
Very nice catch!! I love the pose and the detail in the bird. I think a crop from the bottom to show even less of the perch could be interesting, as the bird just begs to be big in the frame. Alternatively, I had a look at darkening the perch, with a gradient toward the bottom. That made me want to see a hint of some sort of BG detail near the bottom, as I don’t get the feeling I’m looking up at a steep angle.
If you were inclined to add some BG detail, it would be easy to get a clean selection with the old-school Magic Wand tool clicking on the very clean BG, then mask it back as desired.
Dennis: I like the composition and pose as is. I think the image lends itself to at least two other possibilities: first, a very tight crop on the bird with minimal perch and second, a high key black and white (cropped or not).
Thanks @Bill_Fach@Richard_Sandor@Allen_Sparks@Diane_Miller@christinedorresteinphotography. I’ve played around with some of the ideas you folks have suggested. There was a huge variety of suggestions in this one, so it will take awhile to play with all of them. It might take awhile to find a suitable base to paint in as suggested by Diane, but it sounds like an interesting idea.
