Brown Thrasher

[Nonda Surratt]

Honestly I'm on the fence about this image and I'm not sure why? There are quite few things I like about it, I don't see these birds out in the open much so this is a first on that score.

30D, 300f2.8L+2x @f8, ISO 400, 1/1250, manual, car window and bean bag.

[Alfred Forns]

Hi Nonda I like the image Might have given it a little more exposure I like the angle and point of focus Nothing much you can do about the bg

Tried a couple of things in PS Levels curves and soften the bg

[Nonda Surratt]

Thats it! it's flat and dull..I'll re-do and see how I do. Thanks Alfred

[Robert Amoruso]

Alfred's repost fixed it up nicely. Getting a head turn a bit towards you will make the image more intimate. The low angle is a big plus here.

[Nonda Surratt]

Here is my re-do. What I did, I went back to my original image that I liked the bird but didn't like the BG, too much noise. With some tips I've learned here I lassoed out the bird, desaturated the BG and then softened. Better?

[JH Tugs]

The top 90% of the bird looks great now. The only issue I would raise with this version is that we have a perfectly sharp bird's legs contacting the ground, which is blurred.Visually then, this causes me confusion - if the ground the bird stands on is blurred, then my brain tells me the feet/legs should be also. Otherwise, the separation of the birdf from the background is good - nice job!