Brown headed cowbird & Female Cardinal

[shefjr]

I'm starting to get a slightly better handle on these low light conditions around here. It snowed most of the day here in the Buffalo area so that was fun.
I'm not sure why but the flickr uploads seem to be a little more underexposed.
If you care to comment on something that I could improve on that is always welcome. If not, I hope you enjoy looking!:thumbup:

1. Brown headed cowbird

Brown headed cow bird by Shefjr, on Flickr


2. Female Cardinal

Female Cardinal on branch by Shefjr, on Flickr

 

[Parker219]

Oh wow, for lower light and the wind whipping around, I'd say you pulled a rabbit out of a hat!

I can see the snow going sideways, which is cool. I'd say you had your lens dialed in this shoot really nicely!

 

[cgipson1]

Nice shots.... but can I show you something? Which do you prefer? (If you prefer the edit, I will tell you how I did it!)


Original on top

 

[shefjr]

Charlie, I do like your edit much better than mine.
Just an fyi, I only currently have PSE10 for editing. So I do welcome any help on editing but, just thought you should know what I'm working with. I will be running hopefully by the summer with CS6 (which I own but, for a Mac which I do not yet own).
Thank you for any education you are willing to take the time to give.

 

[cgipson1]

Charlie, I do like your edit much better than mine.
Just an fyi, I only currently have PSE10 for editing. So I do welcome any help on editing but, just thought you should know what I'm working with. I will be running hopefully by the summer with CS6 (which I own but, for a Mac which I do not yet own).
Thank you for any education you are willing to take the time to give.

Not a problem.... Elements will do it.

#1... you were underexposed... brighten it up. Underexposure kills color, contrast, saturation, and sharpness..
#2... play with contrast.... a little bit can make a huge difference.
#3... increase saturation just a tiny bit.. bring out those colors, subtly!
#4... sharpen it a bit more.... play with different types of sharpening, and find which you prefer... and use it!

In the sunlight, Cowbirds have beautiful irridescent feathers.... bring that out a little, even on a dull day! See how a little more contrast brings out the feathers in the wings? And texture on the belly?

 

[shefjr]

Great advice Charlie! Believe it or not I actually do play around with all of your above recommendations. I am just afraid of over working the image, which obviously after looking at your image I can push the envelope a little further than I have been. The other issue that I need to get over is my obsession with pixel peeping. I do all of my editing at about 150% to prevent noise so sharpening is always a fight for me. If I can't see the detail in the feathers I have a hard time not erasing the photos.
In either case I will always appreciate your criticism/recommendations/explanations on how I can improve my photography. Thank you!:hail:

So with all that said, I have grabbed a similar image that I took today and followed your advice I feel like I have gotten a closer to your edit. What do you think? Too much?

Brown headed cowbird edit by Shefjr, on Flickr

 

[cgipson1]

Great advice Charlie! Believe it or not I actually do play around with all of your above recommendations. I am just afraid of over working the image, which obviously after looking at your image I can push the envelope a little further than I have been. The other issue that I need to get over is my obsession with pixel peeping. I do all of my editing at about 150% to prevent noise so sharpening is always a fight for me. If I can't see the detail in the feathers I have a hard time not erasing the photos.
In either case I will always appreciate your criticism/recommendations/explanations on how I can improve my photography. Thank you!:hail:

So with all that said, I have grabbed a similar image that I took today and followed your advice I feel like I have gotten a closer to your edit. What do you think? Too much?

Brown headed cowbird edit by Shefjr, on Flickr

Hard to say without seeing the original.. but if it was like the first cowbird, this is much better! Easy, huh? lol! If you have image to spare, cropping a little would be nice too!