Red Winged Blackbird

[Julie Brown]

This image was way too noisy because of a huge crop. I still liked the composition so I decided not to trash it. :)

After basic adjustments were applied in Lightroom, I used Nik Dfine for NR, Viveza, Color Efex Pro, and Sharpener Pro to tweak it some more. The palette knife filter was applied in PSE.

C&C appreciated!

[Jackie Schuknecht]

Julie I like the pose, I think the crop has hurt the image in terms of IQ. But I am sure you will have many more opportunities to photograph this little screamer.:D

[denise ippolito]

Julie, Nice BG colors and pose. I agree about the crop and would love to see a bit more detail in the eye. Nice work w/ the Nik filters.:)

[Julie Kenward]

It's certainly not trashable now! It would be nice to see a little more detail in the blacks of the feathers and a bit more of the eye as Denise noted. Lovely BG.

[Christopher Miller]

I think you did a good job saving it, Julie. :) Nice effect, pose, and BG. Agree on wanting to see more detail in the eye, and I also might crop some from the right and bottom to move the bird off-center.

[Nicki Gwynn Jones]

Hi Julie,
The BG alone makes this worth saving! The bird has a painterly effect which I quite like.
Best,
Nicki

[Harold Davis]

i think if you added some canvas to the top and some contrast to the eye, it would be very nice!! good decision to make lemonade out of lemons!!!

[Myer Bornstein]

excellent save

[Cheryl Slechta]

Julie - I think it was saved:) I love his posture and the bg is beautiful.

[Julie Brown]

Thank you everyone for all of the helpful comments. I will go back and tweak this and try to incorporate your suggestions. It is good to know that in my quest for getting the best images possible, that there might still be some use for the ones that are not quite "perfect".:)