Nuthatch photos: Please would you vote for the one that you prefer?

Hi all

Please can you settle a slight difference of opinion between my OH and me by voting whether you prefer photo no 1 or photo no 2.

The first pic was taken when it was cloudy and the background is blurred: Photo 1

and the second one was taken after the sun came out so the background is sharper: Photo 2

Please can I have votes of preference for either photo 1 or photo 2.

Thanks guys. I'm not going to say at this stage which one I prefer ;-)

Best wishes Chris

Best wishes Chris

Click Here to see my photos

  • Hi everyone

    I agree that Photo 2 is definitely the better pose of the bird. I like the line of the head with the body more, it's a sharper image when zoomed in and having the light in the eye is always a bonus. The background does detract from it slightly though. I'll have a play with them in PSP and crop no.2 a bit more so that the background is less of an issue.

    I like the way that you have done it Buzzard, but I know that you use Photoshop.

    Best wishes Chris

    Best wishes Chris

    Click Here to see my photos

  • Hi Chris, 

    this is a tough one for me!  Think I'm going to have to say I prefer Photo 1.

    I like the pose etc on Photo 2 but the background is too distracting although I think you've been lucky with the light, sometime the sun can really wash out a subject.

     

     

     

  • How about photo 3? :-)

    Best wishes Chris

    Best wishes Chris

    Click Here to see my photos

  • Hi guys

    Now I've cheated slightly and reloaded the photos into my original post after a crop and slight retouch in PSP.

    I think that they are much closer now, but photo no 3 is growing on me (Originally I didn't like the tongue?)

    Best wishes Chris

    Best wishes Chris

    Click Here to see my photos

  • Woodpecker said:

    I like the way that you have done it Buzzard, but I know that you use Photoshop.

    Best wishes Chris

    Hi Chris,

    just to let you know I don't use Photoshop on 99.9% of the photo's I have taken. I try to capture the shot using the abilities of the camera by making sure the settings are correct!

    I don't own a copy and was only using a 30 trial download version to see what it actually does to enhance an original photo.

    The only reason I tried using photoshop was to remove obtrusive objects that were detracting from the subject!

    All I have done on your photo was use all of the auto correction functions. Such as the colour, contrast, sharpen etc.

    It is a really good program and relatively easy to use.

    I spent a few minutes messing on with your photo2

    If I had really focused on the edges, I would have got a really sharp detailed outline!

    Some members said photo2 was to busy, here it is less busy LOL 

    Regards Buzzard

     

    Nature Is Amazing - Let Us Keep It That Way

  • Hi Chris and Buzzard, and everyone,

    All the photos are excellent, really. However, I am going to have to be honest and say I'm not too happy about altering pictures so drastically that they don't even resemble the original subject. It's a bit like magazines airbrushing celebs to make them look better. A bit of cropping and fine tuning to correct lighting, contrast etc. is fine, but removing bits and cloning etc. I'm not sure about. It then becomes not a question of photography but of artistic processing, which is a different field altogether.

    Maybe I'm just Mrs. Grumpy Knickers about this, or maybe I'm jealous because I can't do it, but that's my opinion.

    Cheers, Linda.

    See my photos on Flickr

  • I too had a go with your Nutatch photo, lol!

    Only a quick go (hence the little bits I didn't finish) but it got lost in the virtual stack of my own that was messing with.

    Sparrow I do agree with you and Buzzard.  I don't usually do a great deal with my photos as I'd rather I got the settings right in the first place.  But after doing that Open University course I do know a bit more about Photoshop now than I did before, it can be quite useful.

    With my photos its usually a case of adjusting the lighting if the conservatory blinds have washed a photo out.

  • Susan H said:

    Hi Chris and Buzzard, and everyone,

    All the photos are excellent, really. However, I am going to have to be honest and say I'm not too happy about altering pictures so drastically that they don't even resemble the original subject. It's a bit like magazines airbrushing celebs to make them look better. A bit of cropping and fine tuning to correct lighting, contrast etc. is fine, but removing bits and cloning etc. I'm not sure about. It then becomes not a question of photography but of artistic processing, which is a different field altogether.

    Maybe I'm just Mrs. Grumpy Knickers about this, or maybe I'm jealous because I can't do it, but that's my opinion

    Hi Sparrow

    I don't alter any of my photos drastically either, and it's definitely because I don't know how to do it :-)

    I can just about crop them and slightly adjust colour balance or brightness, which I have now done. On one of these pics I also removed the bright silver corner of a peanut feeder that just poked into the edge of the frame.

    These photos are now good enough for me although I'm still not sure which one I will upload onto my flickr website: http://www.flickr.com/photos/16159953@N06/sets/72157623179373993/

    My new camera is still on it's basic settings as I don't know exactly what needs adjusting yet to ensure that I don't need to play around in Paint Shop Pro Photo. Even if it does need adjusting, I don't yet know how to do it.

    For now I'm just clicking away and seeing what comes out. I only posted this thread because unusually OH and I couldn't agree about which one of these 2 photos with the 2 Sundrops was better (I have 10 in total)

    I don't wish to cause any significant differences of opinion.

    Best wishes Chris

     

    Best wishes Chris

    Click Here to see my photos

  • Buzzard said:
    just to let you know I don't use Photoshop on 99.9% of the photo's I have taken. I try to capture the shot using the abilities of the camera by making sure the settings are correct!

    Hi Buzzard

    My apologies, but I didn't mean that you always adjust your photos. I meant that I know that you are trialling a free copy of Photoshop as opposed to the PSP software that I use, so I know it is different.

    I never intended to suggest that you use Photoshop on all of your photos. :-)

    Best wishes Chris

    Best wishes Chris

    Click Here to see my photos

  • Hi Chris, 

    delving into the "digital darkroom" is somewhat daunting isn't it?  Cropping is all about I could manage before!

     

    Did you both come to an agreement with the photos? :o)