Eastern Phoebe

[Dave Blinder]

October, Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge, New Jersey

Not a perfect HA, but I liked the action. This photo was a real fix'er upper because of branches, so there are some processing artifacts. Anyhow I got sick of working on it, so I called it a wrap so far after about 2.5hrs.

Looks like the DOF may be a bit shallow because of proximity of bird, another problem is the somewhat distracting background. Photo is about 70-80% of original frame, cropped for comp.



Tripod mounted, AV Mode

Camera: Canon EOS Digital Rebel XTi
Exposure: 0.001 sec (1/800)
Aperture: f/5.6
Focal Length: 700 mm
Exposure Bias: +1/3 EV
ISO Speed: 200

I've posted a before and after here. If you'd like, please critique on my approach to the edits, and perhaps how you'd approach? Re-posts are certainly welcome if you'd like to have a go at it.

Thanks,
Dave

[Steve Maxson]

I too like the action pose, Dave - good job stopping the movement. The mixed light in the background isn't helping here. I would suggest toning down the whitish areas to the right of the bird and maybe desaturating the greens a bit as these areas tend to draw my eye. I might also suggest cropping from the right and little off the bottom while adding more room on top, if you have it. :)

[Daniel Cadieux]

I agree with Steve. The comp feels cramped above. If you have it adding back some canvas above (and left) would improve the image. I also agree with toning down some of the highlights in the BG. Beautiful eye!! HA is a bummer though.

[Dave Blinder]

I too like the action pose, Dave - good job stopping the movement. The mixed light in the background isn't helping here. I would suggest toning down the whitish areas to the right of the bird and maybe desaturating the greens a bit as these areas tend to draw my eye. I might also suggest cropping from the right and little off the bottom while adding more room on top, if you have it. :)

Thanks Steve, I've never selectively darkened a BG. What's the best choice for that, the burn tool?

No room up top in original frame, I guess I could copy and flip the "header" for a bit more space.

[Dave Blinder]

Beautiful eye!! HA is a bummer though.

Thanks Daniel, I don't recall ever seeing a Phoebe's eye illuminated like this before. Despite the shortcomings of the photo, for me it provided quite a bit of personality to the capture.

[Steve Maxson]

Thanks Steve, I've never selectively darkened a BG. What's the best choice for that, the burn tool?

No room up top in original frame, I guess I could copy and flip the "header" for a bit more space.

Hi Dave. The burn tool would be a good way to start. You can experiment till you get something you like. To add room at the top you could add some canvas and then use Quick Masks to fill it in and do a few tweaks to make it look totally natural. Good luck. :)