Red Bunting

[Richard Unsworth]

:cool:

Hi I've been trying very hard to capture our garden birds here in freezing England.
Many are really pretty with subtle colors.
Critique welcome

SS 1/250 - pretty low light
ISO 800 accordingly
f 5.6
Ev 0

Canon 40D 100-400 IS @ 400

Rich

[Don Lacy]

Hi Richard, Nice head angle and pose but unfortunately the bad lighting angle throws most of the subject in shadow. If you can you want to keep the light behind you coming over your shoulder to evenly light your subject if that is not possible you can use flash to even out the lighting.

[wendell westfall]

The muted colors on the bird and background (and the bit of ice on the branch?) give me a feeling of its being cold . . . nicely done . . . beautiful bird . . .

[Ben_Sadd]

Certainly a nice little reed bunting. This is a female, right? Not seen on in a while, but assume it is not a male in winter plumage yet.

I agree with Don on the light, and a little fill flash could have helped. I find it a little tight at the top, so if you have any canvas left up their I would try to include a little more. The background could benefit from a little noise reduction.

[Jonathan Ashton]

Nice one Richard - yes a little fill in flash or perhaps a judiciously positioned reflector would help. Just a tad tight in the frame for me.

[Ákos Lumnitzer]

I am not sure why the noise in the dark areas, perhaps a large crop or underexposed and then pulled up in PP. The crop is a bit toght for me and the OOF elements in the BG pull my eyes away. Nice looking bird! :)

[Richard Unsworth]

I am not sure why the noise in the dark areas, perhaps a large crop or underexposed and then pulled up in PP. The crop is a bit toght for me and the OOF elements in the BG pull my eyes away. Nice looking bird! :)

Now reposting

minimal processing

NR and sharpening in camera raw

crop at 100 view with about 30 percent BG removed so not huge; less tight at top but repositioned to right

no adjustments to levels, colors, etc

feedback needed, comments so far appreciated and helping enormously

[Jonathan Ashton]

Rich I have adjusted the light using curves and levels adjustment layers followed by a selective colour adjustment on the blacks-blacks and neutrals-blacks. Quite a tricky one as the light was so variable - what do you think?

[Richard Unsworth]

Hi Johnathan

yep you did a good job there; indeed in the initial post I had done the same but I think I overdid it; in fact I had set the blacks/whites with the droppers on levels.
The light gradient makes it really difficult to get just right, and a touch too much sharpening created some noise.
The changes you have made are subtle and it has improved the image, thanks.

I really do need to consider investing in a good flash so I can fill in in these circumstances as due to the hide positioning the light will never be uniform except when its cloudy, which will create other issues!

Rich