Common Yellowthroat

[john crookes]

Nikon D2X with 400mm 2.8 and 1.7 ext 250th at f5 and ISO 280

Processed through Adobe Lightroom and finished in Adobe Photoshop for sizing output and sharpening

I usually shot in adobe color space and open the image in prophoto 16 bit

i will correct for any color cast do a levels adjustment a contrast ajustment and pre output sharpening.

also a hue and sat ajustment if needed

sent to Adobe Photoshop for noise reduction if needed further sharpening as needed and size ing for output and conversion of color space for output

i convert to srgb for web and adobe 98 for print also change mode to 8 bit

[John Zimmerman]

My initial comment is that I like the color of the bird, but I find the pink foreground to be overpowering. I would like to see the picture cropped differently.

[JH Tugs]

You know, sometimes it's so hard to tell clearly on the downsized photos... I wondered if it's my eyesight or if the focus is actually sharp on the bird's back, but less so on the eye and bill; certainly the bill is starting to move out of the sharp zone (or was moving during capture). If one could go back in time, I'd love to see the eye and bill super sharp.
I can't personally see a nice way to crop it tighter - perhaps chopping out all the pink flower would work (and you could clone out the flower on the right hand side so it didn't seem so out of context), but then the bird's foot would be right at the base of the shot (again I guess you could clone your way to happiness there). I actually quite like the pink though - it gives the picture some context which is nice.
I'm curious - and I don't know - whether the yellow on the throat of the bird is genuinely that saturated, or if there's anything that can be done in processing to get some detail back in that area.

Putting that aside though, I love the picture - it's a nice pose, and I like the branch - despite the flowers I find it seems to lead my eye nicely to the bird.

[Arthur Morris]

I love the bird and the pose, but the bright flowers, all cut in half, are very distracting. Working at least wide enough to include all of the blossooms might be an option.

Biggest problem: the image is way over-sharpened. And the (detail-less) yellows are over-saturated. I am seeing on BPN what I see during IPT critiques: too much Saturation and too much Sharpening. (Remember, be careful out there! Anyone remember what TV character said that???)

Later and love, artie

[Steve Foss]

(Remember, be careful out there! Anyone remember what TV character said that???)

Sgt. Esterhaus, "Hill Street Blues," signed off with that directive every time he finished briefing the latest shift of officers before they hit the streets.

I like the pose a lot. Nice drama. Concur with critiques on sharpening and saturation.

[john crookes]

Did some of the editing suggestede.
cropped out the blossoms since i did not have all of them and i also pulled back on the saturation actually minus on the yellow and no sharpening

[Arthur Morris]

Sgt. Esterhaus, "Hill Street Blues," signed off with that directive every time he finished briefing the latest shift of officers before they hit the streets.
.

First name "Phil." Boy, I loved that show...

As for the re-post, you have done something very wrong as there is a complete haze over the bird... I like the crop however.

later and love,

artie

[Kaushik Balakumar]

I agree with Artie. There's a distinct haze (a kind of a yellow-offwhite colour cast) on the entire frame - I wonder why ...
However, the crop looks good when compared to the original one.
A little more of sharpening of eye might do good too.

regards,
Kaushik

[john crookes]

Whwn i reposted i did not check my work before closing and i had two layers turned off Maybe this one will workk'

thanks for the observations and now i need to go out and photograph something :):)

[c.w. moynihan]

The final repost is much better. You did a good job recovering detail on the blown throat feathers. Sharpening looks much better.

[Del Cockroft]

The final effort has produced a very nice pose. Well worth the extra work.

[Arthur Morris]

Way better. Lovely.

later and love, artie