Post-processing feedback

[srblough]

I was experimenting with my new Speedlight 700 and captured this chickadee on the back deck feeder. Big improvement over no flash but the feeder was distracting. I'm very much of a PSE neophyte but did my best by selecting the feeder with a "fuzzy" border, lowering contrast, brightness and saturation, and then using the spot healing brush on a couple of the remaining bright spots. Then I upped saturation and sharpened the rest of the photo.

Not a work of art, but I would appreciate any feedback / suggestions on use of PS on this image. Thanks!

[D90, 18-200 lens, f/6.3]

[wfooshee]

The second shot's an improvement, de-emphasizing the feeder, but rather than post work, I wonder if you could soften the flash some, maybe bounce of a reflector. I don't know how much room you have for stuff.

[hminx]

The feeder has lost some detail in the second shot which I think is quite worth recovering as the seed has some interesting texture and color available, and I think this image could also still be a little sharper. What PP software do you use? I had a little play with this on cs5 and was I think able to bring a bit out.

[Frog]

Did you shoot it in raw?

[srblough]

Thanks for the suggestions. I could have tried the diffuser with the flash, that's a good idea for further experimentation. The loss on the feeder in the second is entirely intentional - in fact that was my main goal in PP because I found it distracting. But that is a matter of taste, moreover I think the end result of my tinkering succeeds a de-emphasizing at the cost of looking so gray it's unnatural. So I would be interested in other thoughts on how to de-emphasize it. I was using PSE 9.0. An no, I was not working in RAW and yes I know I need to start doing that.

Thanks again for the feedback!

[hminx]

I think the bird feeder is too prominent to hide in this shot and trying to do so doesn't work, better to make it an interesting part of the image IMO .

[OldClicker]

I don't think the bird feeder is a distraction other than that it's a bird feeder and the processing doesn't change that. What I would like to see most is an increase in the blacks to get this cap black rather than dark gray. Less flash may help also. You have done a great job of making the eye visible which is generally difficult with a BCC. - Terry