Canon 7D + 500 f4....1/648, f8, ISO 400, -0.3EV, pattern metering, no flash used
Dull overcast day, cropped to vertical and part of a tree branch removed top left.
I think I should of used some fill flash on this shot, too late now though. So I find the image rather dull and flat looking, have tried tweaking with curves, brightness etc but still not happy, my PS skills are meager at best
Outrageous birds Phil! With the plumage of the male, I think flat light is your best friend. Love the BG and poses of the birds and the singing action is great. The blue channel in RGB is blown big time in the male (take a look at the histogram for each channel separately). I am sure this can be toned down in the raw development stage. I would try that first before I did any other tonal adjustments to the image.
Phil....when we were in lamington national Park In Australia my wife and I saw these birds but were not able to get any good shots like yours. I Like your shot very much...getting a display like this...wow! I agree you need to remove some of the blue with the saturation hue slider. The flatness you speak of I think is mostly being caused by the monotone bg. You might be able to change that with the gradient slider in PS. Good luck with it! It is a image that with some work could be a winner! Looking forward to seeing more of your work from down under!
Fantastic capture Phil! My comments would be repeating what has been said, I think a little bit of PS work would go a long way with this image. One thing I find striking about the image is the notion of geometry, which is evident in the angles of the birds' legs, the male's tail, and the perch. Very nicely done!
"It is an illusion that photos are made with the camera... they are made with the eye, heart, and head." - Henri Cartier Bresson
This is a great shot Phil. So many things went right on this one. The composition, the clean background, two open beaks. I love the fact that the tail feathers on the mail do not intersect the perch. Could it be punched up a little in Photoshop? Probably but it is something to be proud of as is. Keep the RAW file, you can always re-process it when your PS skills are improved.
Flat image
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