RW Blackbird + redo for crop

Gallery: AvianPosted March 22, 2017291 views11 comments

Male, taking a very brief rest from all the flying around and calling.
Gainesville, Florida
3/21/2017 – 7:56:27 AM
Canon EOS 7D EF400mm f/5.6L USM
1/320 sec; f/5.6; ISO 640
Manual; Evaluative metering
LR5, PS6, Topaz DeNoise on Background but leaving out as much of the pine needles as I could, Smart Sharpen on bird and some of the pine needles, Curves adjustment layer to lighten, 86% of full frame

Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you!

Comments

11 comments

Comment posted by Carl Johnson on March 23, 2017 at 7:48 AM

Barbara, great capture of a very difficult subject. I have not been able to get an acceptable photo of a Redwing, combining a pleasing perch, interesting pose and the good contrast showing off the black eye against the black bird. Very nice imho. I really do like pine bough perch.

Registered on October 27, 2016, 8 Posts, 41 Comments

Comment posted by Jenaya Launstein on March 23, 2017 at 12:33 PM

He was sure giving you a show! Talk about dream light! Detail looks good, techs are great. If this were mine I would play around with crop a bit if you had room and take some off the top and show more of the tree below, but that's just my taste ;) .

Registered on February 8, 2011, 254 Posts, 1302 Comments

Comment posted by Barbara Graham on March 23, 2017 at 12:53 PM

Thank you, Carl and Jenaya. Jenaya, I don't have any more to work with below. I only cropped a bit off the right. The little pine tree was a very crooked kind of thing, and I don't know whether there would have been a better cutoff of place or not. I was glad the top was straight, though.

Registered on July 27, 2010, 1310 Posts, 5035 Comments

Comment posted by Scott Curdie on March 24, 2017 at 6:33 AM

The lighting is beautiful and I like the bokeh. You did well showing the detail in a difficult subject, its work getting the eye to stand out on such a dark bird. I might try cropping just a bit tighter to emphasize the bird more.

Registered on March 12, 2017, 9 Posts, 25 Comments

Comment posted by Dennis Plank on March 24, 2017 at 4:43 PM

A gorgeous image, Barbara. The light on the blackbird is awesome and the bg and perch are just beautiful. Well done.

Registered on January 28, 2008, 1767 Posts, 23192 Comments

Comment posted by David Schoen on March 24, 2017 at 6:35 PM

You certainly picked a good time to take this image. The light is really nice on all aspects. A really nice background allows the bird to really pop and stand out well on the needled texture perch. Really good contrast between the blackbird and all the other colors in the rest of the image.

Registered on November 6, 2006, 1213 Posts, 4587 Comments

Comment posted by Nate Chappell on March 24, 2017 at 6:47 PM

Very nice lighting and a good job with the blacks and reds here Barbara, I would take some from the top to make it more of a standard 2x3 rather than squarish format, this would also put the birds head at about the rule of thirds corner rather than toward the middle vertically. devil

Registered on February 1, 2006, 1158 Posts, 19528 Comments

Comment posted by Barbara Graham on March 24, 2017 at 10:00 PM

Nate or anyone else, to do a 2x3 crop it can either take an even amount off the top and the bottom or I could move it so that it's all off the top. Which did you mean? I ask because the even amount off the top and the bottom makes the thirds line go right across the bird's eyes, but I think you meant just take it off the top.

Registered on July 27, 2010, 1310 Posts, 5035 Comments

Comment posted by Kurt Bowman on March 25, 2017 at 2:03 PM

Nice light Barbara! good job on the exposure. I do wish you cropped it a bit differently. If mine, I would change this back to a 2x3 crop (taking the extra form the top.

Registered on June 19, 2008, 1005 Posts, 8028 Comments

Comment posted by Barbara Graham on March 25, 2017 at 5:51 PM