Peter, how large is your crop here? Is it over 50% of the image? I'm wondering because the sunflower looks really funky in its details. The bird seems to have a bit of a problem with its coloring as well - a green tint to his tail and a bit of a red tint on his chest feathers. Did you do anything extreme in processing?
You've got a lovely head angle and a nice low angle. I feel like it's a bit odd in the crop on the right - I generally like to see all of the flower or a really tight crop on it. As it is it looks like you just ran out of frame. Do you have more room to the right?
I think this image has potential Peter. Would be nice to see the original as I think some of the things visible here may be just processing artifacts. Maybe a different crop would work with some off the left. I think the noise in the flower could be from lightening it. The darker tones of any image are based on a lot less light than the lighter tones (now that sounds obvious!) so the signal to noise ratio in the darker areas is much lower- hence the noise showing up when to attempt to lighten them.
Thank you all for your critique. I cropped a little too much and got carried away with PP. Here is another try. This crop is 55% of full frame. I selected the bird, reduced noise (Strength 4, preserve details 97%, color noise 75%), S/H (8% shadows 8% highlights), Slight curves adjustment, satuated yellow channel slightly and sharpened (two rounds at radius 1 100%). For the BG, including the sunflower, I reduced niose (Strength 9, preserve details 50%, color noise 50%), I selected black, white and grey points in levels. This was done in PS Elements 8.
Peter, I think the repost really takes it to a much better place. You did really well here! I looked at the image for a few minutes and played with a few different crops and thought a vertical might put the bird's head/eye in a better ROT's position and eliminate much of the extra "negative space" around the bird. I ended up liking this crop the best. I also lightened the dark corner at the top of the frame and used the brush tool to even out the light/dark areas of the BG. It's not perfect but I think you can get the idea. He could still use a little more contrast in his black feathers but I'm out of time...gotta get to work!
Again, it's YOUR vision - do what you like the best - just wanted to present you with another alternative!
I like the repost (great to see the noise gone in the flower) and I like Jules' crop. Either way it is important not to cut any of the flower off. In Jules' post the bird is looking into less space than she has behind her, which is unconventional but it works for me in this case. Something I didn't mention earlier, and I agree with Jules on this- more contrast in the image would be good, and maybe a bit darker.
Julie, John,
Thank you very much for taking the time to critique my re-post. I will try your suggestions on this image and of course try to remember them for future images.
Sincerley,
Peter
American Goldfinch
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