Mickey

Common little Australian bird, colloquially know as the Micky Bird. He is also known as the happy family, solider bird, noisy miner. (Manorina melanocephala)

Originally shot vertical, cropped to square which may have made the IQ suffer a bit.

In ACR - Exposure to the right. Shadows to the right.
In PSCS6 - BG smoothed out. Hue/Sat layer. Curves Layer adjustment. A little dodge and burn. Smart sharpened for positing.

Canon 5D2
Manual Exp
f8 @ 1/800
ISO 1000
150-600 @430mm
Hand Held

C&C Welcomed and appreciated!

Hi Glennie, I like the muted colours and diffused BKG, but try to do this more 'in camera' in relation to a OOF backdrop rather than in PP, if possible :w3 I also like the pose and the subject leaning forward. For me retaining the green 'bud' adds a splash of colour too. I would suggest dropping the Blue, say around -46, Purple -50 & a some Magenta -30 (figure is personal %) and just reducing the Black say around 6??? To me it takes the cast out of the back plumage and just helps in the relay dark areas. You can do more, but that is with Curves & Channels which might be more than you wish to take on at present. One last thought, try flipping it???

TFS
Steve

Thank you for swinging by Steve! I know about the BGs, but struggle to find them. So I figure this gives me good PP practice. If I didn't tell you, would you have known?

As soon as you mentioned the blue I saw it. I am happy to play with curves now, but haven't yet tried my meagre skills on Channels.

Here is repost as suggested. Seeing the bird flipped makes such a great difference.

Personally I think that is a very good improvement, but just my take. :bg3:

Quote:

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So I figure this gives me good PP practice. If I didn't tell you, would you have known?

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Yep, there are some brighter 'blobs' on the RHS under the branch :w3, do things on a different layer and then use masks etc.

Thank you Steve. Got it! Onward and upward!

A pretty bird Glennie---it's amazing how the camera lets us see the beauty in commonplace birds that we otherwise don't notice. Starlings are another good example of that.I Like how you've captured and displayed the downy under feathers.Why do we like the flipped image so much more? Is it some kind of brain trick?<script type="text/javascript" src="safari-extension://com.ebay.safari.myebaymanager-QYHMMGCMJR/e7f1fa37/background/helpers/prefilterHelper.js"></script>

I love the bird and the original un-flipped version. The background is loverly and there is no edge-evidence that you did the smoothing. The soft light and colors are wonderful. You are more than ready to start posting in Avian.

a

I also agree on the un-flipped version. I think the flipped version only brings out interest because it goes from right to left as opposed to the usual left to right. Don't quote me on that. What makes the image for me is the bean on the LR corner in the un-flipped version. I, too, cannot spot the BG smoothing, Glennie. Nice work!

Agree on the bean Adhika. As they would say on Chopped, it makes a beautiful garnish...

a

Excellent Glennie, great exposure!

Awesome Shot..

I like colors and tonality of the image.