Red-winged Blackbird

I thought this pose of a red-winged blackbird preening was somewhat unusual. I used Topaz Adjust, small details, on an image that was quite detailed as it was (thanks to the Sony 70-400G lens I got a few weeks ago). The Topaz added a graphic quality. Comments appreciated ~Bill

William, I love the pose-I like that you didn't over do it with the effect,if it were mine I might tone down a few of the bright spots. It's a very appealing image-well done!

William the base image is very neat, love that pose.

Only have trouble with the light bg also Sure hope you go after more !!!! :)

I guess I make it three out of three...the bird is great...the BG needs to be toned down to keep the eye from leaving the bird. I love his pose!

Thanks for the comments. Taking pictures of red-winged blackbirds is never my goal, there was a GBHeron nest overhead on a power pole, and I was waiting for one of the adults to return. Nonetheless the quite animated preening of perhaps a half dozen red-wings caught my eye, and I went ahead and shot with well over +1 EV, trying to avoid the usual underexposure of black birds. I was fully aware the background would be blown, and have been playing around with high key backgrounds. I've found them quite useful in isolating the subject, in much the same way as blurred backgrounds. What I was considering on this image when post processing was using the clone stamp tool to go completely high key, perhaps leaving the horizontal perch. However, I did not feel the background as is to be distracting, and there seemed to be a convergence of muted lines on the subject. I appreciate the opinions about the background, though I originally found it to be less distracting that you guys.
Al: Trouble with the light background? Well I considered what would have been the result if I had used a fill flash, with a bird embedded in reeds as it was. Nasty shadows, much more impact of the birds surroundings, and great difficulty in bluring the background. Al:I'm interested in how you would deal with the background.
Denise: toning down the hot spots? Are you referring to on the bird itself (the back feathers)? Pretty easily done if thats the case.
Julie: Toning down the background? I'm not sure what you mean. Darken it, lighten it, blur it. I'm thinking anything to make it less distracting. I could see a case for making the image more high key.
Appreciate the input!~Bill

William, I'm sorry I should have been more clear-I was referring to the few brightest spots of the image that are in the BG. I like the BG and don't find it distracting as it is well blurred and the color tones are pleasing with the exception of those few spots. I would either use the clone tool at a low opacity and reduce the tones of just the very bright spots w/o losing the original feel to the image-that would probably be the fastest and easiest way. Or you could make 2 layers ,name(1) dark and(1)light then make a selection w/ whatever tool you feel comfortable with using the blend mode and soft brush along with the black and white color swatches . Using white for light and black for dark .Use the opacity slider to make adjustments in strength.If you have LR2 You could simply use the tone adjustment selecting the brightest area in BG.Hope that helps. Overall I really like this-and think a couple of minor tweaks would be all I would change if it were mine.

Thanks Denise: I'm glad you clarified this, and I'm glad you like the image. Actually I use CS4. In order to do what you suggested I probably would first try using Select/ Color Range, then the eye-dropper to pick the area that need to be toned down, make a new layer with the selection, etc. If that doesn't work I could certainly try your suggestions. Thank You! Bill