Killdeer

[David Salem]

Took this last spring. This bird was doing the classic broken wing Im hurt come get me ploy. Once he or she thought its eggs were safe, it flared its wings saying got ya, and took off.

Would this look better as a vertical? I tried both but even though its squarish, this comp felt more like it had a place to take off to. Would you remove the shadow?

1DMKIV---500mm---f5.6---ss1/1600---ISO400---HH@7:45am

Thanks as always for looking and your input. Appreciated.

David

[Satish Ranadive]

Hi David:
Magnificent pose captured. Excellent wing position,nice lights,colors and great details in whites.
I could see some halo around beak,head and neck.Composition looks good.If you go for vertical;you will have to add canvas at top and bottom.
Shadow is natural and looks fine.Well done.

Regards,
Satish.

[Randy Stout]

David:

I think the crop works well. The strong diagonals of the wings keep the squarish crop from being too confining.

Leave the shadow.

Cheers

Randy

[Stu Bowie]

Hi David, good wing display, and just love the red eye ring. Nice and sharp where it counts, and a good low angle of capture. Just a personal thing, Im finding this a touch too squarish, so I would come in from the right and add a little to the top. I would leave the shadow too. :w3

[Bill Dix]

Great pose captured. Sharp and good POV. Crop works for the image, even though I normally prefer something closer to 3:2. It might be interesting to see it as a vertical.

[Melissa Groo]

That's a tough comp to figure out and I think you did great, David. Super capture of this fascinating behavior. Love the wing extension and the fact that you've even got a good head turn towards you. Nice control of the whites, and details. Great work.

[Karl Egressy]

Great pose captured, David. I like the compositon as is.

[Jim Crosswell]

I like the wing position, sharpness, details, exposure and behaviour. I am fine with the composition and would leave the shadow as is. Well done David.

[Daniel Cadieux]

To me the subject is a bit too elongated horizontally to make a successful vertical. I'd keep it as is, or even go for a 3:2 horizontal. Yes to keeping the shadow. I'd have preferred a smoother BG for the top half by going for an even lower angle, but I realize it is not always possible in the heat of the action or depending on the conditions. Sharp as posted, nice wing stretch (I especially like the far wing stretching out even higher, very cool).

[dankearl]

Usual photo of a Killdeer, I love the wings up!
I also think a bit more horizontal would look good.

[Robert Holguin]

Wonderful shot.
Excellent pose, exposed very well, and the comp looks good to me.
Well done.

[David Salem]

Thank you everyone for the nice comments and suggestions. Appreciated