Red-browed finch

[Paul Burdett]

Hi all,
Had a productive morning at another favourite location in Brisbane. Here's the best of the day. I know the BG is rather busy...I may try to smooth it out with the clone tool at a later date. I'd welcome some opinions on this. 7Dii, 100-400mm at 400mm, 1/1600th sec, f5.6, iso640 in AV mode hand-held. Taken at Anstead Bushland Reserve, Brisbane, Australia.

*I thought I'd post the location of my photos from now on...for anyone who may be visit "down under".

[Arthur Morris]

Neat bird with a nice pose. Good self-critique on the BKGR. Again, I believe, the REDs and ORANGEs are over-cooked with little to no detail ...

with love, artie

[Paul Burdett]

HI Artie. Thanks again for the feedback...I'll take a look at those reds and oranges and re-edit. Cheers!

[John Mack]

Cool looking bird on a good perch. Nice background. Light looks a little harsh but who cares.

[Paul Burdett]

Light looks a little harsh but who cares.

LOL...Cheers John! I still may re-edit this, as I think I used too much dehaze/contrast in Photoshop...should take the edge of it a bit.

[Paul Burdett]

Hi all,
I decided to re-edit this Finch image as per Artie's feedback regarding the reds/oranges in the original image. I also did not use the dehaze eslider this time.
Some cloning of the BKG right side using the clone tool. Comments always welcome and appreciated.
Cheers,
Paul

[Dorian Anderson]

I actually think something in-between the two images would be best. I think you lose the pop of color in the rework. I might also clone out the lightish thing at extreme upper left, but that's me being anal.

[Paul Burdett]

Hi Dorian,
Thanks so much...yes, after I posted it I thought there was a loss of "pop" in the colours too. I did quite a bit of cloning on the RHS of the bird, but little on the LHS. I might try "third time lucky" edit, including the light patch on the upper left (and no, your not being anal about it...lol...all the other light patches on the left bother me too (now that's my OCD kicking in!)
Paul

[Arthur Morris]

I actually think something in-between the two images would be best. I think you lose the pop of color in the rework. I might also clone out the lightish thing at extreme upper left, but that's me being anal.

Yes, the repost was over-done as far as the REDs go. I save the original post but they were too far gone in the JPEG. Best to start with the HSL slider in the RAW conversion. As discussed in this blog post: When to Burn the RED Channel and What to Do About It ...

with love, artie

[Paul Burdett]

Cheers Artie...will take another look at it. Thank you for the blog link...will "study up"
Paul