Male Western Bluebird

Thank you for all your comments on my prior post. In an attempt to improve, I have been trying different PP techniques and thought I would post another image for your review. In this PP, I used Nik Output Sharpener for Display at 25%, rather than SmartSharpen. I did not use NIK DE or TC as I think that it might have added to processing artifacts. I tried to minimize the shadow on the near wing with DPP 4 and some dodging, but am uncertain whether I could have pushed this harder in PS. BTW, I took this image yesterday and found that I needed a fast shutter speed to stop this bird, and thus upped my ISO to obtain it...just in case you were wondering. Thank you in advance for looking and for your comments.

1DX, 840mm, f/6.3, 1/5000s, ISO 1250

What a cool looking frame John! The wings down pose is really nice and the HA of this handsome Bluebird is perfect. Good job cranking up the SS to stop the action and the bird looks overall nice and sharp. Much better PP work on this one as it does't look unnatural and crunchy. The shadows on the wing and tail aren't that bad and I decided not to mess with them to much but I did dodge the area a little and then lightened the entire frame with a little push from the levels slider. The biggest issue with this frame is that the nictitating membrane is half closed and gives the bird a cold unnatural look to it so I cleaned up the eye and added a catch light. Might be obvious now seeing the original but I think it adds more life to the frame. I also felt that there was a bit to much dead space in front of the bird so I removed a bit. Hope you don't mind me playing with this great looking frame. Well done!

Awesome frame John, sharp where it counts and awesome flight pose. I really like what David has done in terms of improving the catch light in eye. It is amazing what this small change can add to the image. Well done on a superb frame!

Really nice flight shot and great details, John.

Thanks Dave, Frank and Richard. I like Dave's version much better too! I had not even noticed the nictitating membrane originally, but once you mentioned it, it becomes very distracting. I really appreciate you pointing it out and showing out to correct for it.

nice flight shot and great details and BG ....TFS

Hey John, No problem and I'm glad you like the change. Talk to you soon.

Nice and sharp flight shot. Not an easy capture for sure! I like what David has done except for the placement of the catch light does not look natural to me. Rather than alter the original catch light, you might try lightening it up a bit.

Excellent flight shot. Beautiful colors and superb details.
David's re post is loos great.HA looks superb.

Regards,
Satish.

Tough capture; nicely done! Dave's done a good job with the nicitating membrane, but I agree with Marina that the catchlight looks a little unnatural.

Thanks everyone. I really appreciate the help and discussion.