rooster chitchat

[tami]

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/cheba_/2320335495/" title="IMG_2553 by cheba_, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3145/2320335495_39c3404580.jpg" width="500" height="341" alt="IMG_2553" /></a>

hi
everyone
this is my firt post ever on this website and I'm looking forward to some critique.
So , this picture was taken as a part of an assigment in phtography course i'm currently taking. I acctualy found those roosters in the garden of some old house in the old part of the city of Haifa (Israel) and they looked like they were gossiping or something.
I was wondering if this picture catches your eye ? Do you "hear" them chitchating or is it just me?
What should I have done differently?

Some info:
camera - Canon 40D + tamron 17-50 mm
I don't know how to see the exif from the file but I think it was something like this
f - 2.8
Exposure Time - 1/30
ISO - 100
WB - daylight

This is the larger version on flickr
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3145/2320335495_a5241bb321_o.jpg

In the pp only added sharpness with gimp2.
Thanks :)

[windrider86]

You did capture then chitchatting and quite well. I think a tighter crop may benefit this picture a bit more.
I like very much how they stand out in contrast from the dark background but with that being said I think they may be on the verge of being overexposed.
Every once inawhile I will set my wb to cloudy on a sunyday. Try it you might like how it turns out

[peeperita]

i do hear them gossiping about how miss biddy sees to everyone's eggs but her own....:)

good job getting that across.....i also like the warmth of the image as a whole....the only exception being that swath of out of focus green grass in the foreground.....while i can appreciate hoping for intimacy by getting down to their level, i feel the blurred grass is a distraction.....

nice work....

peeper

[Nathan deGargoyle]

I agree about the crop and the chickens being a little blown out. I had a little play and, rather than trying for a natural look, went for a more painted quality. Hope you don't mind me playing...


http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b209/IanGM/DPS/Tamischickens.jpg

[tami]

Thank you for your comments... I see now that the tighter cropping does work well here.
Nathan deGargoyle - I love what you did with the image. I'm still in the stage of learning the photoshop so I don't know how to achieve this effect. Can you explain please?

[Nathan deGargoyle]

Sorry Tami, haven't been about for a few days.

All I did was crop in to put the chickens heads on the third lines, painted out the distractions on the background then used the curves tool (trial and error) to get what I was looking for.

[tami]

Thanks Nathan :) I'll try this :)