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Shawn Kraus
11-23-2010, 01:09 PM
Looking for a gentle but honest critique.

This is my first post in the "Eager To Learn" section.

I captured this image this summer with my 40D and 300 2.8 + 1.4x tele.

1/1250th sec
F/5
ISO 400
No Flash

http://www.shawnkrausphoto.com/Galleries/Birds/Warblers/Yellow-Warbler-2/881964729_5zugS-L-4.jpg
Julie Kenward
11-24-2010, 08:23 AM
Welcome to the ETL forum, Shawn! It's a beautiful image you have here. Good detail and clarity in the bird from head to tail...that's the most important thing! You've got a nice head angle (HA) and the open mouth adds even more interest as the viewer can "visualize" the bird singing.

There are a few things I think you could do to make this even stronger...first, the entire image seems a bit dark. The background (BG), the branch and even the yellows of the bird all feel very heavy in the dark tones - probably because of that strong light in the bokeh (white circles in the BG). Using fill flash here might have helped to lighten up the bird and branch when there is so much bright light in the BG. You can still fix this in post-processing (pp) - just use levels or curves to bring those darker tones up a bit.

You might also want to check the yellows as they are so saturated they are probably "blocked". Check the histogram and look for a spike on either end - that's your sign. Best to check this in the field but if you forget you can usually correct it in pp. Open the hue/saturation adjustment and pull those yellows back a bit and see if you don't see more detail coming through.

Let me know if you have any questions and welcome to BPN!
John Chardine
11-24-2010, 03:47 PM
Welcome Shawn! I like this image very much too. The pose and singing action really make it. I agree with Jules' comments. I think with some processing, this image could be improved a lot. You need to bring out the bird from the BG, especially around the head and bill. A Levels or Curves adjustment could be used to brighten without affecting the yellow highlights. The bright areas in the lower part of the image could be toned down too.