Another Titmouse

[Aidan Briggs]

Another one from my backyard. I used black oil sunflower seeds to draw it in. Note the hint of brown coloration in the plumage that points to an oak titmouse rather than a juniper titmouse.

50D, 100-400 at 400mm
1/400, f/5.6, ISO 320
Tripod, Blind

[Randy Stout]

Aidan:

Sharp, well exposed, good HA for a look back pose, nice BG, soft light.

I like the leaves. Only minor comment about the twig angling down beneath the birds right foot. I might consider cloning it out, but truly a minor point, go with what feels right to you.

Randy

[Kobus Tollig]

Ditto the twig but this is really great well done. Great bg comp and colour.

[Axel Hildebrandt]

I like the look-back pose, details and BG. Is the color temperature maybe a bit high?

[Stu Bowie]

Aidan, lovely pose ,framed nicely between the two sets of leaves. I like the soft light, and pastel colours. Well captured.

[Morkel Erasmus]

great comp, light and exposure! twig doesn't bother me much.

[Aidan Briggs]

Axel, the color temperature seems fine to me. I believe I shot this at 5600K, which is 400K under the preset for cloudy on the 50D. (and it was cloudy that day) I usually set my color temperature at this value on overcast days, as the preset comes out to warm. Maybe the reddish earth in BG makes the image seem warmer than it is?

Randy, I don't really mind the twig that much.

[Gyorgy Szimuly]

Awesome image. Keep it as is. Lovely colors and nice pose.
Guess just a hint of more contrast could improve but I did not test it... just a feel.

Szimi

[Randy Stout]

Aidan:

Works for me. :)

Randy

[Arthur Morris]

Beautiful image design. Hate the twig. Overall too light. Light splotch(es) distracting. Problems for me solved.

[Aidan Briggs]

Artie- I like the repost. What tool did you use to get rid of the splotches? Is it offered in elements or only in CS3?

[Arthur Morris]

I used a large, 50% opacity Clone Stamp, being careful to avoid any spillover onto the bird. For the branch, I used Divide and Conquer, the Patch Tool, and then some QMs. All as described in Digital Basics.

[Aidan Briggs]

Thanks Artie, I really need to upgrade to CS3.