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Goldfinch Revisited
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Goldfinch Revisited

by Peter Conway

Gallery: AvianPosted May 19, 2010198 views18 comments
Mark IV, 800mm, ISO 800, f/6.3, 1/640th, natural light

FIrst of all, thanks for all the help and suggestions on the previous post of this. I like this better than any other photo I have taken of an American Goldfinch so I went back to work on it and I think I learned quite a bit.

I tried numerous different compositions and this one reflects what many of you suggested, the bird is higher in the frame. I might like to see it a bit more to the right as well but that would mean cropping the flowers or putting more negative space above and to the left, which I didn't like. I also didn't like a square or horizontal presentation.

I started over with the processing and did the usual sharpening etc. Then I selectively reduced the exposure on the bird just a little bit (.10) I dropped the saturation of the yellows too. I then dropped the saturation of the entire photo except the yellow flowers. I also added vibrancy to the yellow flowers.

I think that's it. I was amazed at how much saturation I had to pull from this photo, are yellows more prone to that?

So, how do you like the comp, the look of the yellows, and the overall impact of teh photo?

Thanks in advance, all comments appreciated.

Peter

Comments

18 comments
Comment posted by Dennis Plank on May 19, 2010 at 9:49 AM
Nice, Peter. Excellent job of processing. I do believe yellows are more prone to saturation. I used to notice the same thing back when I did mostly wildflowers. It was very difficult not to blow them out. For Goldfinches, I almost always use -1/3 to -2/3 stops of compensation. Part of that may be because they're often against a fairly dark green bg. The yellows here look good to my eye. Whether they're accurate or not, it's impossible for me to tell, because I've seen goldfinches that were a very pale yellow and others that were completely saturated. This looks pretty close to what I'd consider a "normal" male coloration. I like your composition and agree that the only way to trim the right side would be to chop the flower cluster in half. If you did so, I'd remove whatever were left in Photoshop as I think none would look better than half. :toast:
Registered on January 28, 2008, 1767 Posts, 23192 Comments
Comment posted by Peter Conway on May 19, 2010 at 9:54 AM
Thanks Dennis,

This does accurately represent the vibrant yellow color of the bird. My question relates to saturation level and amount of detail in the yellow, which I think is good. :smile:
Registered on June 25, 2007, 347 Posts, 3913 Comments
Comment posted by Peter Conway on May 19, 2010 at 11:37 AM
I have sold one already, well sort of....

Yellow is my wifes favorite color and she wants a print for our house. It is much like a sale except I pay for it. :jump:
Registered on June 25, 2007, 347 Posts, 3913 Comments
Comment posted by Kurt Bowman on May 19, 2010 at 12:51 PM
I really like the re-work Peter...but then again, I liked the original as well. No nits form me....this is the perfect goldfinch shot.
Registered on June 19, 2008, 1005 Posts, 8028 Comments
Comment posted by Keith Bauer on May 19, 2010 at 1:51 PM
Peter: Really like this. The perch and pose are fantastic. It still feels very centered to me. I'd take more off the top and add canvas on the left to provide a more balanced feel. That said, this is an excellent image.
Registered on November 20, 2003, 458 Posts, 4836 Comments
Comment posted by Ian Mason on May 19, 2010 at 3:10 PM
I like the first version and this is even stronger. I see the cropping dilemma and would consider a square crop (although not apparently "fashionable") - might need to add canvas to left.
Registered on December 14, 2005, 399 Posts, 2305 Comments
Comment posted by Graham Brown on May 19, 2010 at 3:14 PM
That's a beauty Peter. I know the bird's beautiful but so is everything else, composition,perch, colours, detail,background etc. One to be proud of. Graham
Registered on November 20, 2007, 275 Posts, 1365 Comments
Comment posted by Rowdy Soetisna on May 19, 2010 at 10:41 PM
This is a wonderfull image Peter, nice job on the repost.
Registered on May 5, 2009, 21 Posts, 17 Comments
Comment posted by Rob Drummond on May 20, 2010 at 7:34 AM
Colour and light look really good Peter - I like Ian's suggestion of a square crop

cheers
Rob
Registered on November 8, 2003, 617 Posts, 8267 Comments
Comment posted by Brian Gatlin on May 20, 2010 at 9:12 AM
wonderful, Peter! The comp is just right on this one, and the colors look great. very well done.
Registered on March 21, 2009, 202 Posts, 4187 Comments
Comment posted by Monica Siri on May 20, 2010 at 11:25 AM
Peter,
beautiful image as posted. :toast:
Registered on September 20, 2009, 132 Posts, 3764 Comments
Comment posted by Nate Chappell on May 20, 2010 at 1:11 PM
A beauty! :toast:
Registered on February 1, 2006, 1158 Posts, 19528 Comments
Comment posted by David Chauvin on May 20, 2010 at 4:38 PM
The perch definitely makes this shot for me. Very nice! :cool:
Registered on August 5, 2004, 1007 Posts, 5595 Comments
Comment posted by Mia McPherson on May 20, 2010 at 8:54 PM
Peter

This was definitely worth the rework, I love it.
Registered on June 25, 2007, 491 Posts, 12566 Comments
Comment posted by David Sparks on May 20, 2010 at 10:33 PM
Peter:
Your wife has excellent taste! :toast:
Registered on May 26, 2007, 290 Posts, 4270 Comments
Comment posted by KC Choo on May 21, 2010 at 9:44 AM
For me, this is much preferred to the first post. I'd probably end up, given the circumstances, with a square crop.

Yellows and reds do need some extra attention!
Registered on November 15, 2004, 519 Posts, 8278 Comments
Comment posted by David Haynes on May 21, 2010 at 3:24 PM
Peter, This is incredible. Love everything about it. Thanks for not having your perch coming directly out of the corner. I've seen so many comps lately with the perches coming directly out of the corners....I must be the only one who thinks this bisects the composition and makes for an unusual comp. But, like I said, maybe I'm the only one who thinks this. Oh well. Fantastic shot and I love the crop as is. Wouldn't change a thing about it. Your wife has excellent taste. Her payment for this photo was allowing you to get the 800MM lense. Thank her for me.
Registered on February 20, 2010, 110 Posts, 1511 Comments
Comment posted by Peter Conway on May 21, 2010 at 7:10 PM
My sincere thanks to everyone that took the time to comment and make suggestions on the first version of this and then look again and comment again on this one. It really does show what a great site NPN is. This is not a rare bird nor is some exotic behavior depicted, but all of you make this about the art and craft of photography not just the subject material.

This is a photo that I am proud of and it became much better and stronger because of the help that I found here!

Oh, to those of you that mentioned my wife's good taste... you know what's coming... she married me didn't she. :jump:

thanks again,
Peter
Registered on June 25, 2007, 347 Posts, 3913 Comments