Critique Blue Tit on feeder

wishmaster

wishmaster

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116
Name
Lea
Edit My Images
Yes
Any criticism of this shot, comp, colour etc. would be most welcome. I cropped in tight and used LR for some basic pp, but that's all.

17331070381_fdcaeb852a_o.jpg
 
Superb picture,

The composition is great, the sharpness too. The image is really pleasing to the eye.
Maybe it could be brightened up a bit and the colour a bit more vivid.
 
Hi Lea

Bird feeder shots divide opinion. For some people they're a big no no whilst others don't mind.

I think you've caught an interesting expression and the detail is good.

Personally I think the crop is a little too tight.

The main thing for me is the exposure. It could be lifted quite a lot before the white cheeks give you problems.
 
Thank you!! Just what I needed.

Ok, I've brightened it as you all commented on the exposure :) I've also upped the colours and it does look a lot better for that. My problem with upping the exposure was that the white patch on the left cheek was easy to blow out and I'm useless with masks or adjustment brushes. I think I've managed it though. As for cropping, I've opened it up a little and now I can't decide which I like more hehe. Should I have cropped it so the feeder shows more (as I've done) or less? Cropping correctly or effectively is one area I need to work on.

I take the point about bird feeders and I have mixed views. You can get so close with them, but the shot isn't as natural and looks contrived. Having said that, being able to take effortless shots like this so close to the bird is helping me with focus, aperture and all the other things I find hard sometimes. Not to mention post processing with LR and PS :D

Nick, I'm using a Panasonic Lumix FZ1000. It's a fixed lens bridge. I was floundering with my DSLR and decided to go back to bridge until I learn a bit more. I'm glad I did as I'm finding the learning a lot less frustrating.

17329963352_678229211e_o.jpg
 
Thanks for the info Lea

The shadows are a lot better now. Generally the bird feeder would put me off, but you have such a good sharp pose from the Blue Tit, you've gotten away with it I think!

BTW If it's no frustrating, you're not learning! ;)
(get some bubblewrap to pop!)

Edit. Can you zap out that green tinge on the feeder glass?
 
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That's really nice edit. I really like how the bird his leaning to get in the shot!
 
Lovely shot,i like the edit,feeders don,t bother me as i think they are part of it in the garden.:):clap:
 
Orange Elephant said:
The shadows are a lot better now. Generally the bird feeder would put me off, but you have such a good sharp pose from the Blue Tit, you've gotten away with it I think!

BTW If it's no frustrating, you're not learning! ;)
(get some bubblewrap to pop!)

Edit. Can you zap out that green tinge on the feeder glass?
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Haha, yep I think you're right about the learning, but I did get to the point with the SLR where I stopped using it as I just couldn't get my head around some things. I hit a plateau and couldn't progress. Thanks for the feedback on the piccy. I have played around with the reflection, but can't remove it without it looking like it has been edited. I'm not quite good enough with PS.

Lemaildetom said:
That's really nice edit. I really like how the bird his leaning to get in the shot!
Click to expand...
Thanks Thomas. The birds always check if I'm in the kitchen when they land and that's a fairly typical pose they adopt when looking through the window. It's quite comical to watch :D

jockwav said:
Lovely shot,i like the edit,feeders don,t bother me as i think they are part of it in the garden.:):clap:
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Cheers James. I guess feeders are part and parcel of it and this one does give me some great photo ops :)
 
Hi Lea

I can only see the first image

I don't like feeders, I'd never post an image with a bird on one - but that's JUST my preference

as has been said ....... much too tight a crop .... and you need to work on your shadows ...... just the shadows and darks, otherwise you may blow the whites ... which would be really annoying as you have captured them well

Although the Blue Tit is common it is a very attractive bird and your image shows this
 
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Personally, when I first started looking through this section, I thought the objections to feeders were a bit OTT. But I grew to dislike them too after seeing how easy it is to avoid them. There are photographic examples of people placing twigs around the feeder to get more natural shots and I'm sure you could feed a thin branch from that feeder to achieve something more natural.
 
How about an edit - something like this ... you can see where I removed the feeder, but that can be blended in easily

There still a bit of a yellow/warm "cast" but this can be improved quite a bit

just worked quickly on the overall image, so it is very patchy ....... but additional work on the bg and then the bird is what's needed

but this would be the direction of pp......

(Excuse me - I always like to have a "fiddle" - which annoys some people)

Lea_Blue_Tit.jpg
 
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BillN_33 said:
How about an edit - something like this ... you can see where I removed the feeder, but that can be blended in easily

There still a bit of a yellow/warm "cast" but this can be improved quite a bit

just worked quickly on the overall image, so it is very patchy ....... but additional work on the bg and then the bird is what's needed

but this would be the direction of pp......

(Excuse me - I always like to have a "fiddle" - which annoys some people)

Lea_Blue_Tit.jpg
Click to expand...

10/10 for cropping the copyright out Bill (y)
 
wishmaster said:
Haha, yep I think you're right about the learning, but I did get to the point with the SLR where I stopped using it as I just couldn't get my head around some things. I hit a plateau and couldn't progress. Thanks for the feedback on the piccy. I have played around with the reflection, but can't remove it without it looking like it has been edited. I'm not quite good enough with PS.
Click to expand...

I'd get back to the SLR & try to figure it out. ;)

About the green tinge on the glass, I don't use Photoshop much, but I do use Lightroom. Within Lightroom, there's a colour slider where you can reduce the luminance or saturation of a particular colour. Assuming that you shot in RAW, dropping down the light green should be fairly straight forward.
 
I'm sorry if you can't see the edited version above. It shows up fine on my browser, which is weird. Here's a link to the Flickr page:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/leaston/17329963352/

Interesting to read the comments and thoughts about feeders. I'll have a think about putting some twigs around the plastic parts to disguise it and cropping out in future.

Thanks for posting another edit Bill, that perspective without the feeder gives the image a much more natural look. That's fab.

I really do need to work on my PS skills for editing things out of images. Again, I really struggled with balancing white areas and the shadow/darker areas without blowing the brighter spots. I guess this is something that will come with time and more experience and just playing around. The thing I'm finding now, and this image is a perfect example, is what looks ok to me has issues I hadn't spotted until someone else pointed them out. Like the initial image being too under exposed.

Nick, I've seen the slider you mention on a tutorial vid recently and will have another play on the original. I did shoot RAW.

You guys are awesome. Once again, thank you for all the help and info. I pick up so much from threads like this, I can't tell you how much I appreciate the help :)
 
I`ve never favoured photographing birds on feeders.
I prefer to cut some foliage that adds some colour around the feeder and photograph the birds on said foliage, it`s so much more natural.
 
wishmaster said:
I'll have a think about putting some twigs around the plastic parts to disguise it and cropping out in future.
Click to expand...
It's not a matter of disguising the feeder, but giving the birds something natural looking to land on next to the feeder. Not having a feeder or spare blue tit handy, i threw this together for you :D

 
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