EURASIAN COLLARED-DOVE

There is some OOF stuff here but it tends to nicely frame the bird, Dennis. I think you need to do some post processing here, especially lowering the exposure on the bird to bring out more detail. Also, if you could supply a large version image everyone could more fully appreciate that detail. The image certainly has potential and I wish one of these birds was perching by my patio!

This is retouched

When you say the original has not been retouched then I am guessing you mean that no processing was applied to it, I would at least apply some sharpening to any images that you post. The tones in the repost look better to my eye.

I assume this was handheld. Camera movement and overexposure are a deal breaker here.

The repost looks much better, Dennis. The word "retouched" is usually used to mean that you somehow improved the look of the subject by changing something that was really there (e.g. removing a pimple or something). In nature photography there is an emphasis on realism. So, we can't really do anything by way of "retouching" the subject but removal of distractions (e.g. bird poop on the ground) is allowed. Even then we need to say what we did. Post-processing is a more general term that includes the whole gamut of things that we can do with software to an image, including retouching. So, normally we would say "post-processing" in general and then specify "exposure reduction" or "increased contrast" or whatever, in particular.

Dennis,
The post- processed version looks better on my monitor, even the OOF stuff is much sharper. The spanish moss in the back ground is nice. I can't believe all the cool back yards that so many members seem to have for great photo oops.

The repost looks much better.

The repost is much improved. Photos out of a digital SLR require some post-processing, even with a very good RAW converter.