Painted Bunting Male

[Michael Stern]

I thought about desaturating the photo as it does not look real however this is it, the real colors!!:)
All comments welcomed..
Mike


Camera Model: Canon EOS 5D
Shutter speed: 1/200 sec
Aperture: 5.6
Exposure mode: Av
Exposure compensation: -2/3
Flash: On
Metering mode: Multi-segment
ISO: 400
Focal length: 700mm

[Randy Stout]

Michael:

Your bird is sharp, vivid, with good angle.

The main problem is the overwhelming perch. Size and brightness. It really draws the attention away from the beautiful bird.

I will see if I can tweak if for you a bit.

Randy

[Michael Stern]

Randy, I look forward to seeing what you do....Mike

[Randy Stout]

Michael:

Here is Ver. 1, with just decrease in brightness of perch and lowered perch contrast. No change in bird itself, but to my eye it really pops out now that the perch isn't so bright.

Randy

[Randy Stout]

Michael:

Ver. 2. Cropped out a lot of the perch to reduce its impact. Darkened and decreased the contrast of highlights in background. Sharpened the eye a bit.

Not a finished product, but I hope it shows some options for you. The quality is really starting to suffer from compression and the small size file I was working with.

I wouldn't have cropped as tight except for my desire to minimize the perch.

Randy

[David Thomasson]

Very nice, Michael. Amazing colors on that little dude!!

I wanted to experiment with a lighter background. My jury of one is still deliberating on this. Never can tell till I see it.

[Michael Stern]

Dear Dave,
Not sure of what you did but I really like it a lot!!! Thank you. Mike

[Michael Stern]

Randy,
Thank you,,,,you gave me some good ideas!!
Much appreciated.
Mike