Critique Spring Serin...ade

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Name
Paul Phillips
Edit My Images
No
My first image post but no need to be gentle with me, good constructive comment is exactly what I need. The image I start with was obtained on an afternoon shoot in and around some Eastern Algarve Salinas 2/5/2019. A small flock of this species were feeding in an area of coastal scrub. I waited my time for a shot of this handsome male in full breeding plumage. Hope you may enjoy.Serin.jpg
 
It looks like you might have a shot from an interesting viewpoint but the problem is it’s over edited - wildlife images don’t suit the grungy ultra high clarity look. I suggest dialling it down and go for a more natural look.
 
It looks like you might have a shot from an interesting viewpoint but the problem is it’s over edited - wildlife images don’t suit the grungy ultra high clarity look. I suggest dialling it down and go for a more natural look.


This ^^ :plus1:

I don't think the light has helped either, it looks very harsh.

Do you have some settings details?
 
Thanks for the feedback, the shot was taken at f6.3, ISO 400 for 1/4000sec. Only minor post editing of sharpness & levels.
 
I agree it looks over edited and also, sadly, you have missed focus (or the camera has front focussed).
 
Paul ,post is not my strong point !! I feel the bird isn't in focus,always try to put the active FP on the eye if possible,if that was the case,than there must be a reason for the bird not being terribly sharp. it might be worth digging into that?

. It looks like the light was harsh...maybe towards the middle of the day,this makes the brights very bright and the shadows very dark ..obviously the first way to deal with this is to shoot more towards the beginning or end of the day,when the light is softer if you have to shoot under clear skys. In the middle of the day light clouds can really help as it softens the light(acting like a massive diffuser). Try pulling back the contrast a bit see how that works.

Paul give the lads and lasses as much detail as possible ,You've included the techs,now. but not what lens body maybe exts etc. What did your histgramme look like mate?? If you haven't done much in post there are reasons why the image looks this way. Mate is the image cropped ,again something the folks need to know ,cropping effects your image quality

Buddy,great POV great patience to try and wait to get something you liked.....you did really well to get the upper parts of the bird clear of the veggies !! There's good stuff to build on here(y) Hopefully one of the more experienced folks in post processing can help you more.

Finally always think about where in frame you want your subject...leave room for the subject to move into ie leave more room to the side the subject is looking,don't treat that as a rule just muse it while framing:)

I hope sommit is of use to you TFS

stu
 
Many thanks for this feed back Stu, plenty of what you say makes perfect sense, particularly in respect of harsh light & FP, proves to me that great strong light conditions need mastering too. Thanks again.
 
Paul your problem with strong light is the camera's sensor has a dynamic range,ie can only record so much from the darkest dark to the brightest hilight. So in harsh conditions you will either have blown hilights or choked shadows,because the scene you are making an image of has a greater dynamic range in strong harsh light than the camera can record.
I hope I'm not patronising you bro not,tis meant that way..............

So yes stuff to learn there, on how to deal with this kind of light..................but the bigger picture is that softer light might well be worth searching for as you'll have a head start in that your images(RAW files) won't have that huge dynamic range to overcome in post. You have to in some ways find out what the limits of the tools you use are and try and work inside those,limits.

Mate I'm not saying don't go out if the sun is too bright ,always go and try...................what i'm trying to get over is that there is a reason why wildlife guys obsess about light...the golden hour etc etc................some lighting conditions simply give you a massive head start in making an attractive image . Most of us live in bliighty ,I'd adore shooting in the sun more often,we see it so little here. But it doesn't always help me get the best results especially if the light is very strong. Frankly I seem to never have enough light,but hey that's another story:LOL:

all the luck

stu
 
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