chow time

[Hazel Grant]

The birds seem to come to our yard in flocks when the weather is bad...and it's BAD right now. Not like New England bad but still cold for us. Schools shut down all week, etc.
Used Topaz Buzsim and edge filter. cloned out some unwanted browns in background. The vertical lines are from the fence in the background. I tried turning them into a pure white background but not sure yet which is better.

[Anita Bower]

I like the feeling of motion in the birds as they come to the feeder and the unified colors between birds and feeder. Nicely composed. There are a few smudges around the edges and it might benefit from a slight clockwise rotation. I don't know what to say about the bg. What does it look like before your tuned them down?

[Hazel Grant]

Thanks for the critique, Anita. I did rotate it some. the feeder was angled from the birds. Guess it needs a bit more. Actually, the fence in this view is the original. I debated making the background solid white. Will post that version. Will work on the smudges I missed.

[Hazel Grant]

This is a version with a totally white background.

[Anita Bower]

I like this version better. How about you?

[Hazel Grant]

This is a version with a totally white background.

[Wendy Kates]

I like the white background the best, and I agree with Anita about the unified colors between the birds and the feeder. It is a very effective action shot. I think the bird on the right could be lightened a bit. Also, there is a tiny dark line in the middle of the left edge...can you clone that out?

[Hazel Grant]

Thanks, Anita and Wendy. I will work on the bird on the right. Thought I'd cloned out that dark spot on the left, but obviously didn't. I liked the plain white version, too, but wondered if the vertical lines added some needed texture. Apparently not. Thanks for the input.

[Paul Lagasi]

I might be tempted to make this a vertical image and remove the bird on the left but that's just my opinion, Thanks for sharing.

[Kerry Perkins]

Love the finches and have one of the wire mesh feeders in my front yard. I like the white background better too. I agree with Paul on the vertical idea, mostly because the left bird is contacting the edge of the frame.

[Hazel Grant]

I have tried the vertical crop (posted here) but miss the activity feeling the bird on the left added. I then tried adding canvas to address the edge of the frame's crowding that left bird. Will post it also.

[Hazel Grant]

also posting the added canvas version.

[Anita Bower]

I prefer the horizontal crop with added space.