This was shot in my back yard last May when i had just moved in. I tried cloning out the bright spots but I only made a mess of it.
1DsIII 400 f5.6L , 1/800 , iso 800 +2/3 EC.
On a tripod shot from a ground blind.
I recently purchased Digital Basics , Arties Post processing Guide , and DPP 4 Guide . I have been going back and re-editing some photos and i am quite pleased with the results .
Thanks Artie and Arash for the great easy to understand guides. I obviously still have a lot to learn but these guides are a great help .
I suspect the contrast is just a tad high on the sparrow. (Maybe set contrast in DPP to -1 if using the Standard picture setting) A very well detailed image I did wonder if slightly over-sharpened but perhaps not.
From a compositional point of view I would suggest lowering the brightness of the background*, find a more delicate perch say with leaves or lichen or berries and ideally get the shot without the seed.
* easy way to do this is to make two exposures one for the subject and one for the background then layer and mask to combine the two exposures.
Handsome fella despite it being in non-breeding plumage. Nice and sharp. Cloning can be tricky. In a situation like this you will want to use a low opacity (30% or so) and clone lightly with a largish brush. I agree with Jon: since this is likely a setup, a better perch would improve the image by lots. It's fun colleting branches and twigs while out on walks in the woods for this purpose!
House Sparrow
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