Male Cardinal

[jack williamson]

This is a set up. The sun went behind a cloud and this lowered my ss. I know the stuff

behind his head should go but I don't know if I can remove it and still retain sharpness

around his head.

Nikon D700, 300mm f2.8, 1.4tc, 1/80, f7.1, iso 400, -.67 ev, VR on. Ap. priority

Added some fill light in acr, two rounds of usm in cs3

[Peter Farrell]

Nice pose, perch and BG. I don't mind the lichen at his head as much as I do the twig crossing the tail.
Birds colors are a little washed out, but detail is very nice. Maybe a contrast boost on the bird?
Peter

[Cody Covey]

This is a set up. The sun went behind a cloud and this lowered my ss. I know the stuff

behind his head should go but I don't know if I can remove it and still retain sharpness

around his head.

Nikon D700, 300mm f2.8, 1.4tc, 1/80, f7.1, iso 400, -.67 ev, VR on. Ap. priority

Added some fill light in acr, two rounds of usm in cs3I like like the pose of this guy. Very nice. I would try and clone out that twig if possible though! Great Job!

[Chris Korman]

Jack, I like the moment captured. Was this cropped any? If you have some more canvas above the bird, that may allude more to the bird taking off. Regarding removing the stuff behind his head, I think it should be possible, you need to use a mask for the bird's head so that you don't fill in to it.

I've included a quick example of what you can hope to do.

http://webs.lanset.com/hypoploi/jpeg/DSC_2864 copy-edit.jpg

[Stuart Hill]

Hi Jack,

Agree with a little sat boost but not too much as I like the slightly muted look.

Also don't mind the head lichen but would say the upright twig should go and as Chris suggested a re-crop if possible.

I like the movement shown here in the wings with the head nice and sharp.

regards.
Stu.

[Rachel Farquhar]

The problem with the twig over the tail is that the twig is so sharply focused in comparison to the tail that it stands out more than it would otherwise. If removing it would show up too much, would it be possible to blur the branch to the same blur as the tail? (I still have a lot to learn about pp so I don't know exactly how you would do this.)

[jack williamson]

Thank you all for your suggestions. I am going to work more on this image and repost later. Chris, this

was cropped and I have more canvas at the top. Thanks all

Jack