This is a beautiful image. I love the pose of the birds, the smooth background with the muted variation of colors, and the overall "feel" of the photo. I think it's perfectly sharp. Not too much and not too soft. Excellent!
I hope you don't mind a question to help me understand exposure compensation. Why -1/3 EV at ISO 1000, 1/640?
I love the background on this one. Very nice perch as well. I find the leaves on the left a bit distracting, but not too much and it adds something nice while not hiding any part of the bird so in the end, I somehow like it as well.
I wish the birds were facing our way, but ehh, we get what they give.
As for sharpness, it looks sharp enough for me to be happy. Although if it were mine, I might have pushed just a little bit more on the sharpening on the heads.
Jeannean: the -1/3 EV is not influenced by the ISO or shutter speed. It is simply a "bias" that you add on the exposure your camera calculates (if you are not in 100% manual mode. for example: aperture priority). In this case, the background might have been a bit darker than the birds, the camera would have tried to "correctly" expose for the background, thus over-exposing the birds a bit. By applying this -1/3 correction, you ensure that the camera will not overexpose the birds due to the influence of the background.
This is not a simple topic to master. Actually it is one of the reasons I'm now shooting 100% manual
I remember there was a thread somewhere in these forums about it but I just can't find it right now. There are also great chapters on the topic in both ABP books by Artie. Especially in ABP 1.
Greetings. The back of the head to shoulders seems a little soft to me on both birds. Might have been better at ISO1600 & 1/1000. Good looking bg. Color seems a bit flat to me, maybe the feather color and bg are too close. If it were mine I'd adjust the bg w/ respect to the feather color perhaps a bit cooler.
Hi Roy, these are really cute birds and they look like they are conversing! Good comments already made above, would like to add my $.03 (adjusted for inflation). While the background is wonderful I do find it a bit too bright, taking the eye away from the subjects. I took the liberty of making some adjustments in PS - using hue/saturation I lowered the "yellow" slider and raised the "red" one. I then added some black to the blacks, neutrals, and whites in "selective color". Last bit was just a touch of USM to add a little bit of sharpness. Hope you like the changes... My goal was to bring more attention to the birds and less to the bg.
"It is an illusion that photos are made with the camera... they are made with the eye, heart, and head." - Henri Cartier Bresson
Pine Siskins
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