Critique Style Requested: Standard
The photographer is looking for generalized feedback about the aesthetic and technical qualities of their image.
Description
I liked the way his recent bath showed off the topknot of this Orange-crowned Warbler. They’re not always apparent, but a good dunking brings them out nicely. This one spent quite a bit of time in my smaller pool, but kept popping out to check for predators. The perch is a piece of dead elderberry branch that I hollowed out to make a drip for the pool.
Specific Feedback
The upper part of the perch was in bright sun and everything else in shadow. Did I balance that out adequately?
Technical Details
Sony A1, FE 200-600 + 1.4 TC @ 840 mm, tripod from blind, f/9, 1/400, iso 4000, manual exposure. Noise reduction with DxO PureRaw 4, Processed in LR & PS CC. Cropped to 6690x4476. Taken at 2:20 p.m. under sunny skies filtered through Douglas Fir foliage.
Critique Template
Use of the template is optional, but it can help spark ideas.
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3 Likes
Tack-sharp view of this cutie. Birds always look so bedraggled after bathing…love it.
Your bright/shadow balancing looks perfect from here.
Nice image!
Bedraggled for sure! A cool capture with excellent detail! I wonder about just a squeak brighter, if you can hold down the highlight on the perch.
How on earth did you hollow out the branch? Extra points for being that clever!
1 Like
HI Diane. Elderberry has a very pithy center in the branches and after they die, it tends to slowly disappear. Unfortunately, by the time it does, the branch is in pretty bad shape structurally. I picked up a set of 24 inch long drill bits from Harbor Freight and I just use a battery powered hand drill and take it slow and easy, starting with the smallest bit and working up to 5/16. I’ll use a lightly larger size at the base for a few inches to make room for the 1/4" irrigation tubing that supplies the water.
Bamboo is easier to drill, but it has a shiny finish and doesn’t look natural for this area.
You should have been a brain surgeon. Good call on the bamboo. Just doesn’t feel somehow quite exactly right for the PNW. 
Great color and detail, set off nicely against the background.
Love the ragged look Dennis with a rather rare look at the orange crown. I like the diagonal of the perch going through the image. Agree with going a bit brighter. Nice catch of this beauty.
Had another look here and had to play – made the bird brighter with a masked Curves and did a little 50% opacity cloning and minor desat on the BG.
1 Like
I like your edits, Diane. I was wondering a bit about the background, particularly the darker areas and you fixed them nicely.
