Originally posted by Shedking It was only ISO640 to get 1/800th @ f/6.3, then a x2 crop, but I don't like the OOF areas much at all. Photoshop has more filters than I know how to use - perhaps one of the Blur options would have improved the result?
I often use a light amount of noise reduction in my images, and sometimes selective sharpening. In my experience, the blur filters in Photoshop often wind up making the image look artificial, because the areas where the blur is used look noise-free while other areas (like the subject) have more noise in comparison.
Sometimes you can clone out part of the background and then try to subtly soften it. I hope you don't mind me mangling your photo a bit
I cropped off some of the right side, then removed the branch with Photoshop's "clone" tool. I then masked the background sky area and went into Camera Raw and applied -20 Clarity. I then went back into Camera Raw and reduced the overall exposure of the photo by -.15 and reduced "Whites" by 20, and finally added a vignette of -30. IMO this de-emphasizes the background fairly naturally and makes the beautiful bird pop a bit more... of course you may think it's all rubbish and I wouldn't be offended if you do!