Hi everyone,
Thanks for the comments and suggestions. In hindsight, the square crop (which has become my default for most bird shots) was just not right for the photo, so here's a new version, which gives it a bit more room to breath. I also upped the clarity and saturation very slightly -- I don't want to overdo it, but I could see a bit more could be helpful. How does it look?
Sadly, at the moment I don't have the time, software, or expertise for something like masking and dodging, so I had to leave that aspect as is. With that said, I kind of like how the body blends a bit into the background, and then there's this sudden burst of color in the face. It makes for an unusual effect.
Mike -- absolutely re the green, I think it's a combination of the angle and shooting in shadow.
AFairley -- I see what you mean about losing the color in that spot, but it's still way better than any of the sunlit shots I've gotten, which tend to just have blotches of color and black where the light angle isn't quite right. I don't know how one would get really uniform color without using something like Glenn Bartley's multiflash approach.
Best,
Brian