Same photo. The version on the right edited ever so lightly by masking the eye and the area immediately surrounding it and playing with some of the adjustment tools to bring up the detail around the eye. In the end, the only difference was a 100% application of the clarity tool along with a nudge to texture brought into discernible relief the orbital ring of this Black-capped Chickadee.
Full application of any of these Lightroom tools generally looks artificial. Clarity and texture can age human subjects by accentuating every bag, wrinkle, crease, and pock mark. Editors may use this to try and cure poor focus or flat images. Overuse of this pair has shown up in sports photos recently. Perhaps the hope is it brings a bit of tension—reveals the game face? Clarity’s highest use may be accenting wet pavement. It provides a nice gleaming noir when used in concert with the contrast tool. With the Chickadee however, it exposed the orbital ring. In the photo on the left the black of the eye and the feathers so closely match one another locating the eye at all is a challenge.
Some evolutionary trick to preserve its eyes in battle? If so Sibley and Wikipedia offered no guidance—at least not about the eyes of the Chickadee. Both had plenty to say about the eyes of raptors, penguins, and all sorts of birds not found in the local porch side rhododendron. Nonetheless worth the read for Sibley’s description of Chickadee mobbing behavior. Something to look forward to in the coming weeks.
Below are a pair of wet pavement edits:
