Hot Chicks

[sk66]

Well, it WAS a warm summer day.

My question is: does it look obviously processed? Would you recommend anything additional or less?

In the original the focus was a bit front heavy...The foreground up to the first chick was relatively sharp but the chicks in the background were out of sharp focus. This made the image unbalanced. But it was the best of the series as far as "subject" goes IMO. So a little post work to improve the image was called for.

What I did was duplicate the layer and apply a 3px blur, then I erased the central chick so the lower layer showed thru. I sharpened the lower layer, and I emphasised the catchlight in the eye.

To me it looks completely natural, well balanced, and the central chick really stands out after this treatment...but I might be biased.

Link to larger Image

Nikon D300
Exposure: 0.004 sec (1/250)
Aperture: f/4.5
Focal Length: 500 mm
ISO Speed: 320
Exposure Bias: -1/3 EV
(Not sure why the ISO is so low....it's usually around 800-1600 when using the 500mm handheld. Must have messed up a bit there because I certainly could have used a bit more shutter speed)

[lputman]

The link to the larger image doesn't work, it's private. The green is so prominent that I found it difficult to even pay attention to the chicks.

[sk66]

It shouldn't be private....My permissions are set to "anyone". If you click on the image and then select "all sizes" on flickr it will take you to the larger size...

I agree the green is very prominent....maybe I could pull some of it's saturation back...

[lputman]

Nope, can't get to it. "All sizes" isn't an option for me.

Have you tried cropping it for impact?

[sk66]

I wonder if that's because I changed the download permissions setting....must be.

[sk66]

here's a cropped and slightly desaturated version...
I like it, but I feel like maybe it looses some of it's "context".

[lputman]

To me, it brings to attention to the chicks and we clearly see their environment.

[Sterling]

Cropped is better. Original looks like a photo of green leaves with some chicks in there somewhere. Cropped version looks like a photo of the chicks among the leaves.

[Jatala]

Nice chicks! I like the cropped better IMO, it brings your subject in more clearly. Nice one. Doesn't look too overexposed to me.

[zenali]

I like the cropped version too. The green was very lush, but the chicks are supposed to disappear into the background as part of their defence mechanism - and that's exactly what they did.