Blooming Blue Grosbeak

[Brian Sump]

Went scouting last week near a trailhead just outside of Golden, CO and found a Blue Grosbeak pair.

Fortunately the Mullein is just starting to bloom and I made the capture before the sun crested the mountain behind me at about 645am.

D850
600mm+1.4x
Handheld
ISO 1600
1/1250
f5.6

LR and PS, DNAI. Cloned one leaf coming into left from another Mullein.

[annmpacheco]

Brian, what a beautiful image, IQ, composition, and the colors... I like how you positioned and the oof mullein in the BG gives the frame more interest IMO. Lovely HA too. This is fantastic, wish it were mine!

[Steve Kaluski]

Lovely setting Brian and it appears you are really getting to grips with things more & more now. You might like just to try backing off both slightly on Black & Contrast in LR and Blue via the HSL panel. You can still have the depth, but more detail will come through, even a slight adjustment in the Exp just lifts things nicely.

Nice one!

TFS
Steve

[Brian Sump]

Ann, thanks a million. Much appreciated!

Steve - glad you like it. I massaged this one a few different ways over several days and came to like it like this. May be a bit saturated to some, but that can be a very subjective thing as we know. None the less is a critique forum so thanks for yours :-)

[Steve Kaluski]

Steve - glad you like it. I massaged this one a few different ways over several days and came to like it like this. May be a bit saturated to some, but that can be a very subjective thing as we know. None the less is a critique forum so thanks for yours :-)

I think your 'massaging' Brian is certainly working and the fact you are taking your time over it, constantly reviewing, honing and refining is paying off big time. IMHO I think it's a juggling between H&L and a slight lift of exposure, but as you say, we all see things differently/subjectively, my only point is what I know LR does prior, but I think we've covered that and you are getting much better.

As you know I tend to look more at how the image can be improved at the PP stage with some simple tweaks, others, more on the techs and HA/position etc, hopefully in that way folk get a more 'rounded & positive' feedback which is not the case with other Forums.

Steve

[Bill Dix]

A beauty of a shot. Love the comp, and the colors as posted. And the slight turn of the head.

[Brian Sump]

A beauty of a shot. Love the comp, and the colors as posted. And the slight turn of the head.

Very grateful for the comments Bill, thank you!

[gail bisson]

Love the grosbeak and the perch. The colors look spot on.
Great color palette.
I am not crazy about the OOF plant on the right but that is a matter of personal taste.
Gail

[Brian Sump]

Love the grosbeak and the perch. The colors look spot on.
Great color palette.
I am not crazy about the OOF plant on the right but that is a matter of personal taste.
Gail

Thanks Gail. I figured some might not like it but it was beautiful to me.... and a bit different.

Fortunately I have several more of this classy fella on individual perches to share in the days to come :-)

Grateful for your comments.

[Volkan Akgul]

Brain, as if in front of me.. applause

[Geoffrey Montagu]

Beautifully captured, Brian. The soft light on this great looking bird brings a nice quality to the colors and detail. The Mullein plants make wonderful perches for some of your recent posts.


Geoffrey




http://500px.com/geoffreymontagu

[Brian Sump]

Volkan, Geoffrey your comments are meaningful and appreciated