Chiffchaff

Having done a little re-working of this image from that on The Gallery, I thought I'd pop it on here for a full & frank exchange of views / opinions / criticism, at which no offence will be taken.

Promise!




Camera Make: PENTAX
Camera Model: PENTAX K-5
Date Taken: 2014-06-14 14:20:24
Exposure Program: Undefined
F-Stop: f/10
Aperture Value: f/6.6
Max Aperture Value: Undefined
ISO Speed Rating: 4000
Focal Length: 440 mm
Lens: Undefined
Metering Mode: Pattern/Matrix
Exposure Time: 1/800 sec


Thanks for looking,

Roger.

Over sharpened and a tad over exposed

Excellent editing. Nice colours and very natural looking. Perhaps next time you could talk nicely to it and get it to stand so the twig is below or behind it.

Call it a draw, then...........?





Roger.

Should I take a look for the deciding opinion?

Feel free, Nigel.........

Roger.

OK then - I'll try and give a balanced response ! I like the idea behind the shot - to show the bird in a wider context, and the DOF control adds a sense of 3D space to the image that works very well, with parts of the foliage coming into focus as well as the subject.

I'm not convinced by the center placement of the bird though - perhaps a crop that places it off-centre would improve the composition?

And I do have to agree with Steve regarding the sharpening & exposure - easy solution to the exposure in processing - I would cut the exposure by 0.5 a stop and reduce the contrast a little, either with a contrast slider or maybe levels in PS. This will help to avoid the far background going too dark and becoming distracting.

The over - sharpening shows up even at full size here on the birds feathers and around the edges of the in-focus foliage - looking a bit 'artifacty'. You'd have to go back to a master version and re-process I guess - it could be that the sharpening amount has been increased automatically by whatever method you used to make the web-sized version?

I'd have to agree with Nigel, Roger. There's an over-processed, artificial look to the shot. It's also a bit over-exposed. Having said that, better than I'd ever manage.

Thanks, all, for your honest, helpful comments & guidance.
Looking at it again (& again!), I know you're right.


Went back & started again.

Cropped.
Brightness dropped.
Auto sharpened.
All in Elements 11.






Any better........?


Roger.

Yes, a good improvement I think ... It has a softer look that is not jarring like the first version, and the crop is better as well. Just goes to show that its always worth having a fresh look and always worth keeping a basic 'master' form of the original to go back to. Thanks for showing the photo and giving us the chance to look critically at it.

It looks to me that it was taken in very harsh light - the contrast and slight over exposure giving the over-sharpened look. I don't know if you could "dodge" the eye a tad to lessen the gauge out look - I find you often can and it makes a difference. Possibly take a bit off the top as well.I think it is positioned well. It is a very good environmental shot of a Chiffchaff though.

Thanks, Greg & Dave for the further comments.

This (final!) version re-cropped, eye detail lifted, de-noised with NeatImage.




Thanks again everyone for the interest shown & your continuing support!

Roger.

I often use a square crop for birds Roger, and it works well here.

As has been said, it appears to have been taken in harsh light which can be extremely difficult to process.

While I find it hard to assess at this size output on a laptop monitor, it looks good to me. Wish I had a chiffchaff looking this good