Ruffled Feathers

[Soozie B]

This shot was taken four days ago when I was madly shooting the ducks at the pond around the corner from me. As you can see by his crest and the slight lean of the grasses, the wind was less than kind to all of us. Unlike the ducks though, this little pretty allowed me to see his eye while he kept his on a bug in the grass in front of him.


Windswept by Soozie_Lou_B, on Flickr

As usual please offer C&C for me to absorb, digest and utilise

Many thanks

[ggt]

Sooooz --very cool, I like this bird. Can you play with the levels a bit in PP? I don't know the correct terminology, but I think you can get more detail on his wing feathers that way - a bit more shadow. Would be good for the background as well. AND, of course, crop closer? All the green in front of him disturbs me. But that is personal preference . . . .

[Soozie B]

Hi Gretchen,

I do like it when I get such a positive reaction from people such as yourself over my little stories. Makes me feel like I am on the right track

I shall certainly give PP a go and see if I can do as you have suggested.

[Mike Buckley]

I like this crop exactly as it is. Looking forward to seeing the changes you make to the bird.

[Soozie B]

Thanks Mike, I didn't mind it either.

Am having a little trouble trying to tone it down to bring out the detail in feathers without changing the pink feathers to a maroon though. Might take me a while to figure it out!

[MilT0s]

Soozie the red part of the bird has a nice contrast with the background but in general I thing the background a bit distracting. What I like in such cases is a PP vignetting, apart from an overall contrast/clarity boost. Give it a try just to see if it works.

[Dave Humphries]

Hi Soozie,

The scene looks about half to one stop over exposed to me, but lowering the exposure will darken the pink, which to me, would seem OK. However; you were there, and you have said that won't be natural.

I think the crop is fine too

Hope that helps,

[ggt]

Here, is this any better? I played with the contrast levels and "render" lighting effects filter.

[Soozie B]

It's lovely Gretchen.blooks like I will need to do a course on PP as well so I can understand and edit like I know what I'm doing :-)

[ggt]

Thank you, but really still an amateur --who likes to play alot. I think a Photoshop Pro could do much better. I still think the feathers on his back could be delineated more, but not sure how. The feathers on his head could be sharpened more, but the way I did it didn't work as well as I wanted it to, so I undid it. I do appreciate your complements tho.

[Bobobird]

What a beautiful bird.

The revised version is much better. Well done.

[casper]

hi Soozie, I think it is a very good shot. The pink looks perfect. I don't mind the crop, because that eye just drags me into the centre like a whirlpool. Keep them coming.
- Noel

[Mike Buckley]

Nice revision, Gretchen!

[Soozie B]

Thanks Noel. Its so much fun getting out there shooting anything that stands still for a few seconds, and then even more fun bringing them here for everyone to discuss.

Thanks everyone for a fabulous learning experience.