Goshawk

This Goshawk flew in and out of my garden so quickly yesterday I

barely had time to grab my camera. It was a cold bleak day and the

background is just awful. I tried all sorts of things in PS to improve the

background to no avail. Maybe someone here can help? Thanks for

looking Louise

Hi Louise, 

The problem is the strong backlight, resulting in bright highlights through the branches. 

Perhaps a tighter crop plus some post-process vignetting?  It doesn't look like you have much room at the top and bottom for additional cropping though.  In Lightroom, I might try the adjustment brush, decreasing the exposure and highlights sliders.

I don't think you can burn in (darken) the specular highlights very much without an unsatisfactory result.  Perhaps the best thing is to hope the bird returns at a different time without the strong backlight.  If you face the same situation, try some frontal fill flash at nearly full power.  That should result in a properly exposed bird and darker background, especially when the bright sky highlights are far back from the subject.  To do this, you will undoubtedly need a more powerful external flash and possibly a flash extender.

Best regards,

Dennis

Thanks for your comments and suggestions Dennis. I am indeed waiting for this chap to return to my garden and hope he stays long enough for me to try out some alternatives. Best regards and thanks again. Louise