Pileated Woodpecker

[Joseph Przybyla]

I captured this image at Circle B Bar Reserve yesterday morning. I wish it would have turned it's head slightly more towards me, but after this image it was flying away. Comments and critique welcomed and appreciated. Thank you for viewing.

Nikon D7000
Nikon 80-400mm F/4.5-5.6 VRII AF-S ED shot at 400mm (600mm FFE)
1/640 F/5.6 Matrix Metering +1 EV ISO 280
Post processed in Lightroom 5 and Photoshop Elements
Cropped for composition

[Gerald Kelberg]

Hi Joe,

I like the high-key effect with the white background - the black and red against the white is really striking.

Yes, a better head angle would have made for a better image but this is good until you get the perfect shot.

You might also take a look and see what you can do to get more detail out of the blacks in the lower half of the bird - it all looks a bit solid.

Thanks for sharing,

Gerald

[gail bisson]

Hi Joe,
I am not a lover of high key but I like this.
The head and feet and upper body look great but I find the bottom half of the bird lacking feather details.
Can you pull a bit more detail out of these areas?
Gail

[Joseph Przybyla]

Hi Gerald and Gail, thank you for viewing and commenting. Not sure why the image appears so high key here, the sky was overcast but not white and the red is way over-saturated. Here is a repost that I think is better.

[William Dickson]

Hi Joe. The repost is much better. The reds now look natural. I like the colours of the bird against the BG Nice capture

[Marina Scarr]

Great critique by Gail, and I think your RP works well. Agree on your own assessment about the HA

[Diane Miller]

Very nice shot of a gorgeous bird! The RP is going in the right direction but the contrast on the bird and tree are too low. The sliders in LR5 should be able to do a better job. I'd go back and experiment a little more.

[Joseph Przybyla]

Thank you all for viewing, commenting and offering suggestions to improve the image. The repost improved the original image. Looking at the image again I could see that the contrast needed raising as Dianne suggested. I did that using the Tone Curve in Lightroom holding the blacks pretty much as they were but raising the brighter tones. Here is that image.

[Diane Miller]

I'd take the opposite tack -- leave the whites alone (they're bright enough) and bring up contrast on the mids and darks. That's not done best by a curve. Not sure what your original raw looks like, but from this last post I'd increase the base exposure just a little to get more in the darks, bring Highlights down and Shadows up, then bring Black down a little to get a little more contrast in the blacks. The histogram is the guide.

It may take Nik's Detail Extractor to go further, or masked curves in PS. Maybe this is even a case for luminosity masks -- check out Don Lacy's Sand Dune Arch in Landscape. And of course what you can bring out will be limited by the light and exposure on the original.

[Jim Crosswell]

I like the perch, hair do, high key look and composition. I like your last repost but would make the blacks a little darker. Nice image Joe.