Caged

[qwerty628]

1) In what way is critique to be sought

The feel, composition of the photo.
I would also like feedback on the processing of the photo

2. What one hopes to achieve with this piece of work?

i want to portray the feeling of captivity through this piece of wqrk, and at the same time emphasise on the beauty of the parrot


3. Under what circumstance was this picture taken

Was in a wildlife park in oz; when i saw this parrot. The sight of it clawiing on the cage made me want to take this photo

4.what the critique seeker personally thinks of the picture

I like the way the processing brings out the colours of the parrot. Also like the eye of the parrot. There's something about it which draws me

 

[shutterwarrior]

Careful with the pp, too much and you end up with distinguishable clipped shadows/highlights in the photo. Likewise, the crop is rather inconsistent; the tail is cut off at the bottom whereas there is a lot of space at the top. There is also discernible CA, specially on the bars.

Love how the details and colors of the feathers pop, though.

 

[cabbySHE]

The feeling of captivity is not strong, but the colour is.

 

[Qi-an]

i think the post process abit too much... too vivid and can see some strange outline around the bird
i believe the post process u did was to bring out the bright eyes of the bird, maybe u should use layer mask so tat it will not affect the other part of the parrot

 

[qwerty628]

Thx for the comments. Composition wise, i have to admit it was a little snapshot-ish. I'll try to tone down a little on the pp next time

 

[pokiemon]

1. can see the noise in background
2. too much pp (as others have pointed out)
3. too much of the column on the right hence rather distracting.
4. too much space on top
5. eyes not in focused

suggestions for improvement:
1. wait for bird to shift to your left more (to avoid the column on right)
2. wait for bird to look at you and the beak biting the grill before capturing shot. this ensures 2 things - a) allows your viewers to connect to the picture b) enforces your title "caged" that bird is trying to free itself
3. increase aperture and focus on the eyes of the bird. please be mindful of shallow dof when doing so.

good luck and keep trying till you get it right!

 

[tetrflare]

I think the composition is acceptable, bird's eye and top 1/3, claw at bottom 1/3, key objects that impact the idea of captivity. DOF is enough.

Problem here is your PP. It ruined the DOF and walls, etc.... from out of camera, first ensure the full tonal range is there, then try increasing saturation till the point just before you feel the tones are compromised. Try for a dull/dark bg/bars instead as may contrast the bird and bring out the captivity concept.

 

[Lekech]

The tight crop makes the parrot looks really pitiful. Coupled with the thick steels of the cage, there is a strong feel to the constraint of space imposed on the poor bird. While this highlights your "caged" theme, the overall pic exudes a very suffocating notion.

As for the processing, I agree that it is overdone. The vibrant colours draw the necessary attention from the facial features of the bird, ie its eye and beak. In addition, as you have probably applied the pp uniformly across the pic, the resulting enhancement to the background color is also distracting and reduce impact of main subject.

Again, poor bird...

 

[qwerty628]

For the processing i whack the sliders in lightroom. Overdone it tho

would a vignette work for this picture?

 

[tetrflare]

I wouldnt do a vignetting, but you should definitely play around. Good thing about lightroom is you can save the settings of your processing. so have many saves and see which one is the best.