This started off as a throw away shot in flat and cloudy lighting with a busy background. I’ve been experimenting with low key effects so I brought down the background and attempted to bring out the bird’s details with it’s muddy face. It turned out to be more interesting than I expected, so I thought I’d share it here. Your take - good and bad - is welcome!
All edits and denoise were on DT 5.0.
Nothing quite like turning something you’re on the fence about into a really nice shot!
I really like the texture in the bird’s fave and the almost monochromatic look, with just a hint of warmness with the muddy white part of the face. That really makes this come alive, I think. I also like the way you’ve dialed down the background, but still left some interesting, fuzzy textures in there; it provides a nice contrast to the sharpness of the bird’s face.
I’m on the fence about the neck coming from the absolute corner of the frame. Part of me wants to give it a bit more breathing room on the right hand side.
Thanks, I understand your point about the positioning. I might have done better with a horizontal crop.
Nice shot, nice edit and I tend to agree with Mica that if there is room for improvement it might be in the cropping. Worth printing and framing.
I agree much with Mica.
What also bothers me with the image, though, is that (what it looks like on my monitor) there is just a touch too little contrast between the background and the top of the birds head.
I also agree; you have made it into an excellent photo. I like your current crop, as the goose’s neck has a vertical element.
Very nice shot and I like the edit style! I think the texture and details are nice and not overdone. The only remark I have is the transition between the bird and the background, I think there is a small red-ish halo especially in the upper part, this is also visible in the neck (left part). However, it’s not so disturbing!
Thank you and that’s a good catch. That halo is some “spill over” from the mask that I used to separate the subject from the darkened background. It took a bit of effort to get a clean separation and it looks like I missed a few lines. I think that’s one area where working in layers in a program like GIMP could be easier.
@Terry and @Tim, it might just be me, but cropping is about the most difficult decision I while editing. I often find that I can take a photo in any number of directions…
I’ll look at that and maybe do a repost with everyone’s suggestions.
Thanks all!
only then can we know if our suggestions were actually good or not 
Thanks for sharing. With proper treatment, images like this can shine.
At 100% zoom, the edges are definitely rough. Edge-aware refinement (e.g. guided filter; not feathering) of your existing mask would go a long way, though I am unaware if dt has that functionality off-the-shelf.
For more contrast between the head and background, consider desaturating the latter or blurring it slightly. Otherwise sharpen the head a bit. Anything to differentiate them more.
I agree. Personally, I do several takes and let them sit before deciding. For this particular image, if you desire a narrow crop, consider rotating the image slightly so the head looks upward. That would give the subject a little more headroom (pun intended). Whether it would work or not is for experimentation and you to decide.
It does, in all masks. Its almost magic.
That’s in the feathering guide and radius slider, am I right?
Indeed, that is nice to have!
I often use GIMP or another editor/processor to see if I can generate a better mask. I believe dt can import masks…? My point is that there are lots of options, which admittedly may be more trouble than it is worth for a single image. 
In a case like this, it would be easy to create subject and background layers and avoid the “seams” that I had here with DT. But I like to keep it all in one program where I can because DT is very economical with file space and my edits are all maintained in a single location. Using GIMP or some other requires three times more file space and a separate DAM like Digikam to keep it all organized. Plus, DT works well for most of what I do.
First, thanks to everyone for your comments. I got more far more out of this than I expected. I went ahead and tried to incorporate everyone’s suggestions, namely a different crop, improving subject/background contrast, and I cleaned up the masking a bit. I also toned down the reflection in the eye because I thought it was a bit distracting.
Yes, nice improvements.
But when I now watch the image again, I think that there is still room for another nudge.
In this image the (mostly) black bird need some contrast from the background, so the background needs to have some more luminocity in it, (and I think you arranged the contrast along the edge of the bird quite well)
At the same time light/white areas tend strongly to draw attention to them, so there is a fine balance between giving the (mostly) dark background some structure/lightness to establish contrast with the (mostly) black bird vs. having light(er) areas in the background that compete with the bird for attention.
I therefor think the bird would stand out even more clearly, (without the background going completely dull), if you slightly darken the following areas:
Thanks, and I think you’re right. I started working on that and then found some other things that I want to work on, so I’ll play with this a bit and maybe follow up later.
Once again, the feedback from everyone far exceeded what I expected!
