African Greater Jacana #3

[gail bisson]

Canon 1D MKIV
F 500mm
ISO 400
SS 1/2500
f 6.3
Cropped by 30% so 70% FF. Taken in Botswana in October 2012.
"Optimized" the he** out of the BG to get rid of numerous OOF flowers and stems.
Comments and critiques always appreciated and learned from with thanks,
Gail



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[gail bisson]

Here is the original untouched image. I don't usually fiddle so much with my pictures but felt the pose was worth it,
Gail

[Sachin Saraf]

Gail, this is amazingly beautiful image...You captured very nice moment...Love the details and raised foot...good to see that you posted original, it shows how much effort you have put in PP to make it great...you did excellent job in getting rid of distracting flowers in BG.

[Karl Egressy]

Beautifylly composed image, great PP work, Gail. Love thflower and the raized foot adds a lot of interest. As I see it, the original has potential to become a full or almost frame habitat shot.

[Randy Stout]

Gail:

Very nice clean up, excellent pose. Like the remaining flower.

perhaps run a bit of detail extractor on the cheek patch behind the eye, to tease out a bit more texture.

Cheers

Randy

[Arno Ellmer]

Lovely image, Gail and you did a superb job in cleaning up the (almost always ) messy bg and surroundings. I wonder how superb shots of these birds are very often spoilt by these complex bg's. ???
The great image of yours deserved the effort .

[Grace Scalzo]

You really boiled this one down to just the essential elements with your excellent PS techniques. Great work. The droplet under his rear could go imho. The ones in front of his foot are much better placed. :w3 A possible print?

[Bill Dix]

Terrific processing, Gail. Thanks for posting the original for comparison. The OP is a terrific image -- the flower and the foot really make it.

[Dennis Zaebst]

Agree with the PP...well done Gail. Heck, I admit I almost always "fiddle" with my images (probably because I'm not as good a photographer as most here :e3. Love the foot up, which is a spectacular foot!

[Joe Senzatimore]

Great PP. Well thought ot and exicuted. Gotta love those feet.

[Melissa Groo]

Excellent job on your post processing, Gail. Such a good example of how a good picture can be made great with time and care. Love the final image, it's pretty captivating.

[dankearl]

Very nice showing the original.
You have a ton of patience and resolve to clean up this photo and show the essence of the image.
Outstanding PP work.
I actually think the FF frame original is nice.
I like all that habitat and think it is interesting.
Thanks for showing both, I really do think that the originals should be posted on all the images here.
It makes for a great learning experience.

[Gary Kinard]

Very beautiful

[Robert Holguin]

Beautiful shot.
Very well composed the pose and inclusion of the flower make this shot for me.
Excellent PP work.
Very well done.

[Stu Bowie]

Hi Gail, great work with the clean up which has resulted in a fine image. Good IQ, and love the leaning pose towards the lily. You have brought out the detail in the Jacana nicely, and overall sharp too. I presume this was taken from your boat, so great low perspective.

[PhilCook]

Love these birds, but I've not travelled far enough afield to see one as of yet.

Good clean up job Gail, the sharpness and posture of the bird made it very worthwhile spending the extra time on it. I also rather like much of the original image as it generally depicts a natural look except the one flower that intersects with the beak...so a good choice to do extra editing...beautiful !

[Satish Ranadive]

Gail:
Gorgeous image of beautiful jacana.
Love the pose of bird with raised foot and spider toes,magical colors,sharpness and flower.
I like the wonderful PP.

Regards,
Satish.

[Daniel Cadieux]

You created a nice balance here Gail. Love the huge raised foot, and the remaining flower is well placed. From the OP I would have preferred the extra leaf at left not be there, but upon seeing the un-editted version I feel you've done enough.

[Jim Neiger]

Swwet image, Gail! I like the enormous raised foot and the purple Lily adds nice color.

[Tim King]

Gail, you've caught something special here, Fine job.

[David Salem]

Nice work Gail. Liked the last shot of this species and this one is cool too. Those feet are something else. Techs look perfect and nice seeing the original to compare and see the effort it took to make the final version. Well done.