Green Heron Lake Hefner Oklahoma City, OK

Camera Model: NIKON D500
Date/Time: 2018:08:31 7 52 AM CST
Shutter speed: 1/250 sec
Aperture: 5.6
Exposure mode: Manual
ISO: 1250
Lens: 200-500mm f/5.6
Focal length: 500mm
No tripod

BreezeBrowser > Adobe camera raw > Photoshop

Removed a few spots from the original photo.
Used Nik Collection
Neat Image for noise reduction

Chase, overall nice image with just a few small fixes. I would sharpen in the head beak area a little more, wish the HA was a bit more towards you.
I would also change the crop up with more room in front and a little less below the branch. Exposure, perch, colors and BG all look nice.
I added more on the right side of the canvas but did a quick job, notice the repeating patterns.

-Tim

Tim, thanks for the feedback. Can you point me to any kind guides that might help me with the sharpening.

Hi Chase, For selective sharpening, which I believe Tim was suggesting, select the face or the area that needs sharpening, put it on its own layer, and go to Filter > Sharpen > Unsharp Mask and set 15, 65, 0. Call it is Contrast Mask if you would. It is a quasi type of sharpening in that when you sharped for print, the area that you "sharpened" selectively will not appear over-sharpened!

Learn more about Contrast Masks, making selections, and my complete Digital Workflow in Digital Basics II here.

with love, artie

ps: good job of expanding canvas by Tim.

artie