I just love these little birds!

Please feel free to offer a critique as well as any advise........I learn easier that way.

Thank you!

Nikon D700
Nikon 70-200mm 2.8

Hi Geri,

Thanks for sharing. I find bird photography so difficult, so please bear in mind that I am doing this just from a compositional perspective - I am not sure how much better I could do it (LOL, at least I am honest).

The two critiques that I will mention are: First, the shot looks a little 'dull' like it could take another round of post processing. Fortunately, I think this is very fixable. You are losing shadow areas a bit (for example in the eye). The second thing is that while I know the bird feeder certainly attracts the birds, I don't find the feeder very attractive in the shot (LOL, that of course is the conundrum because it is what is luring the poor bird there).

Thanks again!
James

You did well just to get one of these sitting still long enough to photograph!

I agree it is a little dark.

One way to avoid the feeder in the frame is to provide an attractive perch close to the feeder. A lot of really nice bird images come from this sort of set up.

James.....and Jim. Thank you for taking the time to offer advise, I really really appreciate it! I've posted photos on another forum hoping for just this type of feedback, and didn't get it. So thank you, because it does help me learn!

I am also new to photoshop, I'm working with Elements 6, and learning on my own, until I start a class that I will be taking over the summer and fall. I am very open to someone playing with this photo to show me how they would adjust/fix the highlights, if they have time.

I did this really quickly on my laptop touch pad, so excuse some of the sloppy edges. I cropped out the big bright spot at the top, lightened the shadows and darkened the highlights. Then I did a bit of work on the mid tones in the eye to bring them up a bit.

You could use Image>Adjust>Shadow/Highlights, but I find it leaves halos. (There is a bit of a halo in the original around the head).

I created a separate action for shadows and highlights which leaves no halos and is more adjustable than the standard S/H adjustment in PS.

Basically, select the shadows (or highlights) feather copy to a new layer and set it to screed (or multiply for highlights) and adjust the opacity to taste.

I'm actually thinking about offering the actions up for sale one day.

Hey Jim,

If you have 'before and afters,' I would love to see them.

James

James,

Do you mean of the actions or this photo?

Jim

Jim,

I love the changes to the highlights! Comparing my photo to your version, it is easy to see where I need to work on things. Thank you for taking the time!