Salvaged?

[jack williamson]

I posted mainly because it was a poor exposure and I tried to fix it. Nikon D700, 300mm f2.8, tripod. 8:00 A.M. 1/500, f8, ISO 800. SB 900 flash in hotshoe, -1 2/3 ev.
Clicked auto in acr, small midtone levels, color balance on bg, S/H, usm on birds only. Cloned away branch in ulc. This is about 60% of the original. This is a setup and the redheaded woodpeckers are the top dogs in my yard. This one was just before running off this juvenile red bellied woodpecker. I was trying to get some inflight shots hence the high iso and ss.

[Stan Cunningham]

I think the birds, exposure, every thing looks great. However, and this is just my opinion, with 2 birds on opposite sides of the tree it would have been better to have a thinner tree. If you had a thinner perch you would see "more bird" than tree. Maybe just the lower trunk without the fork at the top. Some may love it this way however, and I think the specs look great and can't tell you blew the exposure at all.

[Kerry Perkins]

Jack, I'm with Stan in this regard - I think the tree is just too much of the image. The capture of both birds is awesome as a record shot, but to my eye the tree and the background in this image overpower the birds. The human eye is the most sensitive to light in the green area of the color spectrum, so the combination of green color and high luminance make the background stand out as a distraction. I would suggest toning down the background and lowering the black level on this one.

[Svante Larsson]

The tree doesn't bother me at all but I agree that the green background should be toned down to keep the viewers attention on the birds which I by the way like very much.

[jack williamson]

Thanks Stan, Kerry, and Svante. The BG is something that I worked on and it is still awefull. I appreciate your responses.

Jack

[Marina Scarr]

It would have been better with a thinner tree, but that's not the hand you were dealt. I think you did a pretty good job with this one considering what you had to work with. The female looks sharp; however, the male bird not being on the same plane looks a little soft. I would rework the catchlight in the eye and increase sharpening of the eye area to make it apepar sharper.

[jack williamson]

Thank you Marina.

Jack

[Harshad Barve]

Gotta love this , agree with Marina about thinner tree , excellent image
TFS

[Jeff Cashdollar]

I would tone down background and widen the image, the tree is fine IMO. Image does look a bit worked. Wider image might help reduce large crop as well. What a great moment, love woodpeckers and two in one shot - great day in the field.

[jack williamson]

I appreciate the comments Harshad and Jeff.

Jack

[Rachel Hollander]

Jack - nice to get 2 in one. I don't mind the size of the tree but to me the image lacks pop probably because of the amount of PP to correct the exposure.

TFS,
Rachel