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Hi Arnie and welcome to the Critique Gallery. I see you have been a member for some time but possibly this is your first venture here.
It would be nice to know what you would like critique on in particular, Camera settings, colour, etc, etc.
Without that information I can only comment on what I see here.
Did you crop this ? there seems to be a few unexplained artefacts visible, especially on the top edge of the perch, looks almost like a composite of two images.
A little noise visible but at ISO 2000 that is to be expected perhaps.
Seems a touch oversaturated, especially on the yellows and perhaps a bit over processed, difficult to tell so, the original would be nice to see too, before any post processing, you can upload it as a modification, just click on the blue modifications button below the image and follow the guide.
Nice to see him with a full beak, ready to feed the family.
Hope you had a great Birthday.
It would be nice to know what you would like critique on in particular, Camera settings, colour, etc, etc.
Without that information I can only comment on what I see here.
Did you crop this ? there seems to be a few unexplained artefacts visible, especially on the top edge of the perch, looks almost like a composite of two images.
A little noise visible but at ISO 2000 that is to be expected perhaps.
Seems a touch oversaturated, especially on the yellows and perhaps a bit over processed, difficult to tell so, the original would be nice to see too, before any post processing, you can upload it as a modification, just click on the blue modifications button below the image and follow the guide.
Nice to see him with a full beak, ready to feed the family.
Hope you had a great Birthday.
It's sharp on the eye and well exposed so that's good. I do suspect a crop from the complete frame, and the result is claustrophobic and a little more breathing space around the subject mkes for easier viewing. You can upload a copy of the original as a Modification using the blue tab above.
The yellow on the bird and in the background i very strong so have you done any processing on that or have you adjusted any camera settings? You may not have adjusted itspecifically though, as Levels and Curves adjustments can affect Saturation.We'd be interested to know why you chose Spot metering.
Over to you.
The yellow on the bird and in the background i very strong so have you done any processing on that or have you adjusted any camera settings? You may not have adjusted itspecifically though, as Levels and Curves adjustments can affect Saturation.We'd be interested to know why you chose Spot metering.
Over to you.
Welcome from me too.
It's a good result, particularly given the high ISO. I do like the inclusion of the bird's lunch.
My feeling is that you pushed a few sliders a bit too far. Too tight a crop, too much saturation, too much sharpening - the breast feathers are starting to look like synthetic carpet pile rather than fluff.
The low viewpoint and long lens have made that foreground branch very prominent. It hides the bird's legs - but we know that they are there so my eye want to see more space at the bottom for them, even if they are hidden, than your crop allows.
I shall try a modification later today.
Moira
It's a good result, particularly given the high ISO. I do like the inclusion of the bird's lunch.
My feeling is that you pushed a few sliders a bit too far. Too tight a crop, too much saturation, too much sharpening - the breast feathers are starting to look like synthetic carpet pile rather than fluff.
The low viewpoint and long lens have made that foreground branch very prominent. It hides the bird's legs - but we know that they are there so my eye want to see more space at the bottom for them, even if they are hidden, than your crop allows.
I shall try a modification later today.
Moira
I'm back again, and I've uploaded mod 4. Here's what I did.
I played around with canvas space and crop to allow the bird to look into more space, with more above its head, with enough branch at the bottom to allow space for where its feet are. The filling-in is fairly crude, it's to illustrate how placement and proportions affect the viewer's perception.
Apart from that I lightened, brightened, and did some very gentle dodging and burning, respectively on highlights and shadows, both at 3% exposure with a large brush. I toned down the prominent green cast, as Willie did but NB I didn't touch saturation. This is to illustrate how improving light will improve colour. (Sorting the green cast actually removed most of the background colour so I painted some back in for atmosphere... )
Then some very discreet sharpening, not enough to produce the 'plastic feather' effect.
I played around with canvas space and crop to allow the bird to look into more space, with more above its head, with enough branch at the bottom to allow space for where its feet are. The filling-in is fairly crude, it's to illustrate how placement and proportions affect the viewer's perception.
Apart from that I lightened, brightened, and did some very gentle dodging and burning, respectively on highlights and shadows, both at 3% exposure with a large brush. I toned down the prominent green cast, as Willie did but NB I didn't touch saturation. This is to illustrate how improving light will improve colour. (Sorting the green cast actually removed most of the background colour so I painted some back in for atmosphere... )
Then some very discreet sharpening, not enough to produce the 'plastic feather' effect.
Thanks for the original.
I note that you think you overedit: I'll quote Moira's (mrswollybill) general advice - after each step, ask yourself if it's improved the image. If it hasn't, go back, and stop.
The extra data about why you had spot metering selected, and the focus issue are helpful.
I note that you think you overedit: I'll quote Moira's (mrswollybill) general advice - after each step, ask yourself if it's improved the image. If it hasn't, go back, and stop.
The extra data about why you had spot metering selected, and the focus issue are helpful.
Thanks to all for very constructive feedback I will take it all on board.
The birds are quite difficult to capture they are so fast in flight & especially with sub par equipment like mine. Still nice to get a good shot of them. Unfortunately the brood this one was feeding was decimated by a raptor of some description. Found four dead around the feeder one morning. I have spotted the raptor, again chasing smaller birds & its amazingly fast.
The birds are quite difficult to capture they are so fast in flight & especially with sub par equipment like mine. Still nice to get a good shot of them. Unfortunately the brood this one was feeding was decimated by a raptor of some description. Found four dead around the feeder one morning. I have spotted the raptor, again chasing smaller birds & its amazingly fast.
Remember that the daddy of all bird photographers, Eric Hosking, started out with a plate camera...
What you lack in equipment, you have to make up in cunning, I think. If you can't catch a moving target on your sensor, the question is whether you can get it to go where your camera is set up and focussed, and time it just right, or provide conditions that will tempt it to come to rest where you want it.
It's way outside my area of competence - but I know that if you have prefocussed on the right spot, the camera fires right away without an AF delay...
What you lack in equipment, you have to make up in cunning, I think. If you can't catch a moving target on your sensor, the question is whether you can get it to go where your camera is set up and focussed, and time it just right, or provide conditions that will tempt it to come to rest where you want it.
It's way outside my area of competence - but I know that if you have prefocussed on the right spot, the camera fires right away without an AF delay...
Thanks for uploading your image just with the basic corrections.
I did do a mod...
Gave him more space to look into...very important, otherwise he has nowhere to fly off
and added some more space at the top.
Helped the bg along with the clone tool.
Levels adjustment with a drop of lightening on the bird.
Added just a wee bit of contrast.
Converted the colour profile to sRGB which is the one recommended for displaying on the web.
I do think you have over edited this, perhaps a step too far.
You could tempt the birds to where you want them to be by setting up a simple feeder close by a nice perch where they will land and wait for their turn on the feeder.
I did do a mod...
Gave him more space to look into...very important, otherwise he has nowhere to fly off
and added some more space at the top.Helped the bg along with the clone tool.
Levels adjustment with a drop of lightening on the bird.
Added just a wee bit of contrast.
Converted the colour profile to sRGB which is the one recommended for displaying on the web.
I do think you have over edited this, perhaps a step too far.
You could tempt the birds to where you want them to be by setting up a simple feeder close by a nice perch where they will land and wait for their turn on the feeder.
