Originally posted by JMR 
These are very good but a little on the dark side for my taste. It could be my monitor.
JMR
No it's probably not your monitor.
It's dark because that was the way it really was (more or less). When it comes to my bird pics I try to maintain the natural ambiance as much as possible. If the shot was taken in the deep woods it's going to, hopefully, look that way.
If I recall, most of these pics were taken early or late in the day out of choice to get a more softer directional light than at midday. For instance the last one was taken within a half hour of sunset on purpose. The light is low, soft and warm and coming from the right (West) side of the frame.
It's just an aesthetic thing with me. I could easily punch it up in PP but then it wouldn't be what I saw in the first place but something else.
However my monitors are very carefully calibrated so it might appear excessively dark on some monitors.
But as you said it is a matter of taste.
