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.
