Yellow Warbler

[Paul Kusmin]

Hi, I thought I'd post up a shot that I used as a tutorial of sorts while boning up on a few fine points of re-touching gleaned from the Digital basics PDF.
It sure beats my original, which had a branchy and leafy BG.
C&C appreciated.
Exposure: 1/160
Aperture: f/8.0
Focal Length: 700 mm
ISO Speed: 400
Exposure Bias:0 EV
Flash: On

D300 + 500mm f4 AFS-1 + tripod

[Randy Stout]

Paul:

Looks like you learned a lot from Digital basics!
Lovely bird,excellent pose, HA. Sharp, well exposed.

A couple of observations
I find the bright white area below a bit distracting. We are conditioned to accept brighter area above for the sky, but somehow this seems upside down, IMO. I would consider burning it in so its not so bright.

For my taste, I might consider cropping down just a tiny bit from the top. I know the bird is singing that way, so you certainly don't want it tight, but I am not sure you need all the naked perch running up to the top.

This last one is also personal pref., but I would prefer just a bit more room on the left. Its true that verticals do OK when centered, compared with horizontals, but this one "sings out to me" for a little more room on the left (sorry, couldn't resist the bad pun!)

Cheers

Randy

[Daniel Cadieux]

Some good points to ponder from Randy. I would definitely extend the green BG to the bottom. I'm finding some parts of the bird itself rather darkish (back, wings, and belly). You used flash, but perhaps a higher output would have lit those up nicely. There are still some PP remnants visible on either side of the perch below. Great singing pose...I love the little tongue sticking out!

[Doug Brown]

Very nice singing pose, and it's good to see you trying to bone up on PP. You've done a nice job here, although I do agree with Randy's and Daniel's suggestions.

[Juan Carlos Vindas]

Great attempt!

Love the singing pose and clean BG, though I agree about the naked perch and clear bottom. Good job, keep it up.

[Paul Kusmin]

Thanks for the comments everyone, much appreciated.

Here is the original version as posted (maybe some like it better?).

[Kaustubh Deshpande]

Paul, I personally dont mind some distracting natural stuff in the background. But of course, it looks better without them :-)

Contrary to others, I'd suggest a little crop from below. And I second Randy's suggestion on more room to the left. You can try a squarish composition.

Lovely bird and lovely pose. Open bill and good head-angle are not easy to get. well done.

[Paul Kusmin]

Thanks for that Kaustubh, you know I've never cropped a square format before but I'll consider it as I have nothing really against that format.
Cropping the bottom burnt out area is a good idea as is extending the left side.

Cheers!