Bothering me

[Shooter Tiff]

I'm having a hard time making this picture look right
Originally the background was water, but now it looks like sky and I can't get the colors to look quite right.
Any suggestions? Is it even worth my time?
thanks

[GB1]

I think the shot's savable. What I see is a nice colored background with an interesting array of branches. The bird is nice but he is so small in the frame.. he sort of gets overwhelmed, and I think the shot might actually be better w/o him there.

Anyway, I vote for leaving the background color as is and trying a few crops. One, crop off the area just to the right of the bird. You have him at an inflection point of thirds - which is good - but there is just too much space. Next try an even tighter crop so that the bird is much bigger.

Hope this helps a bit. -G

[MB1]

I think the image may be too yellow but at any rate it is an interesting composition so I would say keep fooling around with it including trying B&W.

[AgingEyes]

I'm having a hard time making this picture look right
Originally the background was water, but now it looks like sky and I can't get the colors to look quite right.
Any suggestions? Is it even worth my time?
thanks

So what should the background color be? The water could look blue, too, cuz it's reflecting the color of the sky. But, perhaps we should be able to see some ripples in the water? But if the depth of field is not wide enough to show "details" of the water, then the water could just...look like what it is now

First of all, you could brighten up the photo and enhance the contrast. But, I'm just guessing because the scene could be that dark when you were there. It doesn't look like it has major color cast. Under-exposed may be.

[Frog]

Reading the above comments, I do think you had a wide aperture as even some of the back branches are quite blurred. I think this eliminated any detail in the water which makes it look more like sky.
I think its a nice shot as is. Maybe a little brighter as was mentioned.

[Shooter Tiff]

Thank you all very much for the advice and taking the time to look.
I have cropped it, taken out the yellow wash, and brightened it.
What do you think?

[AgingEyes]

Personally I find the background color too dull. I also would sharpen the bird a bit plus a tad of color enhancement.

[Shooter Tiff]

I don't think I can sharpen the bird anymore.
This crop is really not doing much for me, I think I'll try going at this one a little different now.

[kemekal_d300]

i like the 2nd / fixed image. the upclose is what first popped into my mind. I do like the branches, and the background (esp.if it was a brighter blue, being its washed out water its no biggie) But i think the bird adds to the branches, , I would definitely leave it chilling wit' the branches for the pictures sake -

[Shooter Tiff]

OK how about this?:idea:

[JoshuaD]

I like the way the background looks in the B/W image much better, but the bird blends in. I think it might be interesting to leave the bird in color.

Edit: And maybe that one tiny flower bud right in the middle of the picture.

[Shooter Tiff]

Thanks JoshuaD I will give that a try in photoshop and see how it looks.
I do kinda like how the bird blends in a little. Makes the picture less about just the bird.

[Desertdog]

I liked both of your crops afterward, specifically the close-in of the bird made a night and day difference from the original shot :thumbsup:

Using the B&W version would be effective for a background with something... colorful cropped into the middle, like what was suggested. Maybe not necessarily a flower, because that doesn't seem to fit with the subject... but something.