Chickadee I Can't Stop Editing

[PixelRabbit]

I've toiled over the PP on this series twice and I think I've stared at it too long and started over too many times, I can't decide if I like it or not anymore. Here are the two best of the bunch.
I'm not even sure what specifically ask other than do they look right or over processed/sharpened(?)
Thanks for checking them out


IMG_1306-3 by Judi Smelko, on Flickr


IMG_1284 by Judi Smelko, on Flickr

 

[ewick]

try desaturating the back ground a little so it makes the bird pop out. Right now I think the bird gets lost in the back ground. just saying. I'm not a pro i'm just a guy with a camera.

 

[SCraig]

Chickadees are hard. They have black eyes on that black band and no mater how hard I try the eyes don't grab the focus like I want them to. I suspect that this is what you are searching for, and you ain't gonna find it.

The look fine to me. Walk away and leave them alone.

 

[BlackSheep]

They look good, especially the first one. You have all the important stuff - it's in focus, not over-sharpened, and we can see the catchlight in its eyes.

 

[greybeard68 40]

I really don't see anything else you can do with them. I like them.

 

[PixelRabbit]

Thank you Ewik, Scott, Blacksheep and Greybeard!
I think Scott hit it on the head, I kept hovering between blowing out the whites to get more detail in his head/eye area (there was very little to start with) and not blowing out the whites and getting the best detail in the feathers, the feathers soften and lose definition so easily in the light areas. It was feeling like an exercise in futility!

 

[Joel_W]

Judi, stop driving yourself nuts. You did a great job of PP. I prefer pic 1 over pic 2 simply because those white features just below the eye are a tad blown out in pic 2, but not in pic 1. I love your composition, and managed to capture the bird without any twigs in front of it.

 

[KenC]

Yeah, you're OK. They're a bit aggressively sharpened for my taste, but within reason. I agree with the suggestion of desaturating the background a bit, but wouldn't mess with them otherwise.

 

[bentcountershaft]

You could give the first one a mohawk for some attitude. Other than that I think they're good.

 

[PixelRabbit]

Thank you Joel, Ken and Bent.
The obsessive perfectionist in me got the best of me on this one for sure. I'm going to tuck it away for now in the "revisit" folder and perhaps play with the background another time, I agree that some desaturation would help him pop.
Bent lol funny thing is there were a couple in this series where he did have a mohawk look!