Steve Cole  

Handsome Winter Visitor by Steve Cole

November 2024 - Handsome Winter Visitor

About the Image(s)

I know and hope it is bit early for the actual snow but after walking through the local big box stores seeing all the Christmas decorations and toy lands everywhere perhaps it is a bit appropriate to share this photo. I used this photo on holiday notes I sent to our close friends and family last year.
This handsome fellow along with many of his family and rivals visit my bird feeders all year long but it is special when the snow arrives for there are at least eight couples at my two bird feeder stations. It so much a “fun-photo-capture time of year”. May you all have a wonderful upcoming Holiday Season. Fujifilm XT5, 100-400mm lens at 400mm (600mm full frame), f7.1, 1/250 second, ISO 500, Handheld. Processed in LR with basic sliders and Printed on Red River Polar Glossy Note Cards.

8 comments posted

Jerry Biddlecom   Jerry Biddlecom
Wow -- does that red ever stand out from the gray wintry background. Lots of diagonals in the background, but they do not distract because of the reduced tone and actually add to the composition because their presence adds to the sense of the bird's natural habitat. It's not too early -- in fact as I'm writing this a news story just broke about a big snow storm in Colorado. Maybe brighten up the bird a little? Nice shot.   Posted: 11/11/2024 17:01:08
Bruce Benson   Bruce Benson
I agree with Jerry, (Wow) Also agree that you might lighten the bird just a bit. Bruce   Posted: 11/12/2024 06:08:35
Cindy Marple   Cindy Marple
What a beautiful image. I like the dark gray background with the criss-crossing snow-laden branches for the setting. All makes Mr. Redbird pop even more.
The one thing I might play with here is to try to make the eye stand out more, it gets lost in the black mask. I used a really tiny brush and brushed along the highlight lines that are present for a mask, and increased the exposure of those lines about 1 stop (maybe that was a bit much but it shows the effect). I think it helps define the eye. While I was at it I tried increasing the overall exposure about 1/3 stop as well.
I love this image. What a great card it made. We have cardinals here in AZ but my Christmas Cardinal would be on a cactus... not quite the same.   Posted: 11/15/2024 02:06:32
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Jerry Biddlecom   Jerry Biddlecom
You have a good eye! Pun intended.   Posted: 11/15/2024 13:43:45
Steve Cole   Steve Cole
Cindy,FYI, I tried to light up eye a bit and put a catch light there ... but I was not capable of doing it so it looked natural, apparently I need to work on my LR-PS masking skills. Thanks for your efforts.
  Posted: 11/18/2024 18:07:00
Cindy Marple   Cindy Marple
Steve, Here's my method in a bit more detail. The first image is your original. Note that there are some natural highlights, although quite dim. So I took a really small brush and made a mask following those highlights (red mask in the next capture). Then increased the exposure for the mask.

In general, what I've found is if there are some natural highlights already existing, I can get decent results by making them more visible. If there aren't any and I try to create some, I rarely am happy with the results.   Posted: 11/19/2024 18:09:58
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Adrian Binney   Adrian Binney
Skilful technique - I like your result in your main picture above   Posted: 11/20/2024 17:21:29
Adrian Binney   Adrian Binney
Steve - Wow, a beautifully taken and presented bird in a snowy setting - yes, makes for a great card. It is great as is, but I would try to lighten the shadows a fraction on a mask taking in the head/beak darker red/black areas. I would try and see what it's like. Cindy's idea has merits too.

In the UK, Winter arrived this week - in north Wales/N England and most of higher ground of Scotland (I live southern England now!). Our daughter & husband had a great walk in snow in the north Wales hills yesterday - lucky them!   Posted: 11/20/2024 17:29:12

 

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