Hi Cindy

Nice catch of these two handsome specimens. They kindly lend a vibrance to the image that tells me exactly what I'm supposed to be looking at. Also, the f/5.6 was just about right to keep both of their eyes nice and sharp, while providing that nice soft bokeh in the background.

If I had to throw a suggestion out there, it would be to try and catch a version of this shot with the stick not on rear subject's head.

Thanks
Josh
  Posted: 07/15/2025 00:53:57

Cindy,
Sorry I'm late in the month in responding. Love how these two wonderful birds are interacting. I also like the sharp details on their eyes and head. Well done. What draws my eye away from these two birds, however, is all of the bright and distracting elements around them. That chunk of wood on the upper left blocks our view of the red bird. The bright spots around the blue bird are also taking my eye awat from the main scene. So the solution is to move yourself aroundand take lots of pictures of these beautiful animals until you get teh composition that you really like.   Posted: 07/18/2025 20:56:43

Cindy, great moment and vivid colors. Howevver there's a lttle too much going on here. You could have used Lightroom to mask the bacckground, and then darkened it. You could then experiment with Lightroom's Remove tool to erase the wood chunk blocking the red bird.   Posted: 07/23/2025 00:22:12

Cindy, This is an interesting image and I agree there is a lot going on and like Craig mentions maybe using the remove tool to erase the wood from the red bird. One option you might try in LR is to select the background and make it a little darker with dehaze or by contrast and reduce the highlights. Then select the subject and make them a little brighter with the exposure and contrast slider. This might make them pop a little more. I took the liberty of making a few adjustments.   Posted: 07/27/2025 04:25:08

Not too much that I can add. I love the bright colors of the birds against the more neutral colors of their surroundings. And they are tack sharp. Very nice! There are distracting elements. The wood on the left side has already been pointed out, but I would like to point out the stick in the upper right. It is quite sharp and I find that it attracts my eye away from the beautiful birds.   Posted: 07/27/2025 18:11:44