Overexposed Cactus Wrens

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bajadreamer

bajadreamer

Well-known member
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Having a tough time deciding whether to reduce the brightness/exposure of this pair of Cactus Wrens. Shot was taken shortly after sunrise in SE Arizona and produced almost a spotlight effect on the birds. Also, should I clone out the stray cactus on the lower right? Any other suggestions. I like the pose and I love Cactus Wrens.



cactus wrens-1.jpg
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First impression is that the shot works just like it is.

No harm in processing more than one interpretation and sure, maybe lowering the overall exposure a third or half stop might help or perhaps just some subtle Highlight recovery but I don't see them as dramatically overexposed now (no obvious blown highlights) just bright.

You could definitely achieve a bit different image by cloning out the one piece of cactus, more of sitting up on the mountain look but personally if stray things don't really interfere with the main subject I tend to leave them as that was part of the scene. Many varying opinions on this and just like the brightness experiment it's easy enough to process a version without that bright bit of cactus and compare. Whether or not I left the cactus piece I might try burning down that bright area behind it which might be even more noticeable if the stick was gone.

You might also try a crop that places the birds a bit further to the right giving them more room to look into the frame.

Bottom line, this image is beautiful just the way it is but all it takes is a bit of reversible experimentation to see if alternative versions might be even more pleasing.
 
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I don't think they look overexposed at all. My first reaction was that the birds really stand out with the bright light on them. I personally would clone out the cactus on the far right - but that is me for this photo. I often leave stuff in that some people would clone out (like a McDonalds paper bag at the doorstep of an old church which I think adds charm).
 
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I don't think there's anything wrong with this shot. It looks great just the way it is. You might want to take DR's suggestion to crop such as the birds are placed slightly to the right.
 
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Thank you everyone for your thoughts. As I look at the picture, I agree-a slight crop on the R would improve the image. Because that would put that clump of cactus in the corner and only partially in the frame, I think that cloning it out would be beneficial.
 
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It's a cool shot. I agree with the cropping advice above, however, I'm also going to be the dissenter on exposure :)

In this case, I think I would drop the exposure - or at least the highlights - a little bit. The birds look too bright too me. Not by much, but if it were my shot, I would drop the exposure a bit.
 
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I LOVE IT, Much better with the redo, initially the birds were a little bright, I think I would even try a little darker on the bright tones. Also I wonder what it would like like as a verticle or even a square format. Just a thought
 
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