Pied Currawong

[Colin Driscoll]

Another from the gum tree (Eucalyptus) in front of my house
Canon EOS R5 EF 600 f4 III 1.4x III 840 mm tripod
ACR PS2023 light NR NI9 Curves Crop Sharpen
Cloned some BG distractions

[Dorian Anderson]

Good view of this guy, especially the yellow eye and scaly feet. The colors and contrast, however, are off across the frame. Everything seems flat, and I think there is a magenta cast. This tree might be convenient but it makes for a rather cluttered setting.

[Andreas Liedmann]

Hi Colin ... I quite like the clean view to the subject and its posing with the head turn and do not mind the perch , not too cluttered for me personally .
Details and sharpness looking good to me .
The tones and colors are not really working for me though , subject does look almost B&W to me and the light tones are featureless ... histogram shows clipping .
Just guessing you have blown the HL in the capture ... if so not worth the editing , IMHO.

TFS Andreas

[Colin Driscoll]

I've definitely lost my nerve and dive down every rabbit hole to try and anticipate and deflect likely critiques.
Don't mistake that for not liking critique, it's most appreciated.
So here is the shot straight out of the camera other than for crop, NR and sharpen, no other adjustments.

[Andreas Liedmann]

Something along those lines ....

[Colin Driscoll]

Yes, thanks, I have a raw shot just like that from the session but elected 1/3 open to reduce noise in the dark areas.

[Andreas Liedmann]

Can't follow your thoughts about the noise elimination ...

[Kurt Bowman]

I like the head turn you managed and the perch is fine to me. The BG does seem a bit cluttered, but I think with different processing that can be managed. I really like the re-post by Andreas.