Titmice in sun and overcast conditions

Comparing two recent titmice photos, same equipment and about the same distance between camera and birds, but different settings and time of day. I like the sun pic better, but not by as big a margin as I thought I would. No white (snow) in the background from yesterday (top image) compared to 10 days ago when there was still lots of snow in the woods. Not sorry to see it go!

Titmouse in yesterday's cloudy weather
XSi, 70-300mm @ 135mm; f/7.1; 1/125; ISO 400

IMAGE LINK: https://flic.kr/p/rDR5​gC

IMAGE LINK: https://flic.kr/p/reVF​AE

Nice work Mike.

Mike

I like them both.

Both are nice, you could try add some Shadow/Highlight-filter (only Highlight?) to the snow-pic to get some more details out of the white?
Sharp as a razor with this lens!!
Hope you don't mind! Took your snow-photo into PS and added 26% highlight and 7% shadow, maybe too grey?
Stein, Norway

coopert wrote in post #17479487
Another titmouse (guess it could be the same one, who knows)

It must be another one. The shapes of the dark patches above the beaks are different.

Hope you don't mind! Took your snow-photo into PS and added 26% highlight and 7% shadow, maybe too grey?
Stein, Norway[/QUOTE]

Stein - don't mind at all, thank you for the suggestion.

I'm not terribly skilled in PS and always looking for feedback in all areas to improve. The titmouse in particular, especially with a lighter background (snow in this case), can give me exposure challenges. So many shades of black and white and gray, plus sun highlights and some shadows for good measure. But I enjoy trying to figure things out.

I like the changes you made, they look pretty good. It does seem just a bit too gray in the front; wish I could somehow compare these two versions to the "real" bird, to see if either comes close (or closer) to the real thing...

Pike40 wrote in post #17479706
Nice work Mike.

Mike

Beekeeper wrote in post #17479739
I like them both.

Thanks Mike and Beekeeper.

OhLook wrote in post #17480700
It must be another one. The shapes of the dark patches above the beaks are different.

Seems that way - good eye, you're probably right.

I just right-clicked + copy and added it to a New photo in Photoshop. So same photo with new detailes revealed