I just wanted to show how the background of an image can have such an impact to our final prints.  The image of the immature bald eagle below is right out of the camera with a minor vignette added. As you can see, it has a branch sticking out of its head.  Not Good!

Why do I have a branch sticking out of my head?

With some touch-up work in Photoshop, the image looks much better.

Look Ma... No branch sticking out of my head!

So, what’s the big deal? Well, it takes time to do the correction in Photoshop. If I had just moved a little bit to the right, the branch would not be directly behind the eagle and the image would have been much better from the get go. Also, the light might be just a bit better because it’s coming from the right side as well.

I often get so excited about the subject that I don’t always pay attention to the distractions like the background and the edges that can ruin an image.  Composing a shot, isn’t just paying attention to the subject but also paying attention to everything in the composition.

Some might say; “Well as long as I can fix it in post, why should I care?” Well, not only does it take time to fix these issues but sometimes, they just cannot be fixed at all. As a result, for the lack of paying attention to the detail, an otherwise Great image just may be lost.

Hope this help some of you with your photography.  By the way, most photographers won’t show you their mistakes.  However, you never know what you’ll find here!

Hope you’re enjoying the day.  Thanks for coming!

BYW: I should have eliminated the branch sticking out of its right wing too.