Cedar Waxwing (#2)

[Peter Farrell]

Taken 1/6/11 in Newport News, VA. Sony A700, 70-400G @400mm, f5.6, 1/500, iso400.
Partly cloudy early morning. Satuated and darkened the BG sky. Cloned out some oof branches on the left, had to rebuild the perch on the left. Levels, curves, sharpened (bird). De-saturated the reds in the berry.
Peter

[Daniel Cadieux]

The waxwing looks great, and I love the berry in the bill. Not sure how the sky looked like before, but you chose a very natural look. The contour of the bird looks very cut-out (most evident around the bill and berry, and around the tail)...likely the result of your masking, or other post-processing method to outline your subject for work on the sky. A bit morwe refinment there and you should have a beautifully finished result.

[Grace Scalzo]

Peter,a lovely subject and the berry adds alot of interest. I agree with Daniel. Also see remnants of your cloning in the Lower left corner. I wonder what the image would like like with more of the branches in it. The bird feels a bit tenuous to me on this slender one only.