Strike A Pose

[LinzRiverBalmer]

So something a bit different.

This King Vulture was part of a Falconry show in Arizona 2 years ago.

He was the only Avian with the luxury of not having to do anything at all except walk around and be pretty.

Very unconventional comp I know, but my title really fit the mood, plus the crowd required a big crop.

Edited a year ago, but I went back in yesterday.

PP in LR5 burned the background grass down, sharpened the head a bit extra. Brought some detail back to the white feathers. exported with LR sharp output.

This was taken at about 1pm in full desert sun.

EXIF....

Sony Cybershot DSC HX 100V

1/800 at f5.6
ISO 100

handheld, no flash, program mode, about 10 feet away. Burst mode to control movement.

please excuse my watermark for now, having minor program issues.

oh should disclose this was entered in my fair in 2012, got a merit mark of 80, no award.

[gail bisson]

Hi Linz,
I like your choice of comp- a bit unconventional but it works!
Great colors with the red and yellow and black and white with that baby blue eye.
The feather detail in the blacks and whites is excellent and you selected a good exposure for this bright light.
In hindsight ( always so easy to be an armchair critic!) you should have selected a higher ISO and had more DOF. eg ISO 800 F 10 and focused on the eye/head area.
Peters comments are good.
Gail
PS Agree with you that the watermark has got to change.

[LinzRiverBalmer]

haha, yes Gail I know, the watermark is driving me nuts, mostly because I'm having issues fixing it myself.

I had a friend make it up for me and she sent it in AI format and missing a letter and I can't figure out how to fix it, so I'm waiting on her and she has a 2 week old baby.

It will be better without the white background, in a few days I promise, I just can't figure out how to get an AI file in PS Elements and change it to a PNG.

Thank you for the comments on the photo, both of you.

Rachel in wildlife told me to change my settings so that I can choose my point of focus to the eye of an animal.

So I will be doing that from now on with my newer camera. I believe this shot was on evaluative or multi spot metering and I do remember it had several focus points. The daylight was so bright I was relying on my LCD screen to show me everything.

I actually had the head looking a bit sharper in LR last night but I guess I haven't quite figured out how to keep that sharpness and export at the smaller forum size.

It still wasn't perfect but the hairs on top of the head were a bit sharper, I had gone in with the brush in LR.

I did the whites on the feathers just last night in LR, surprised when I compared to my printed pic how much white detail was gone in the one I entered, looks better to me now. I like LR just have to figure out this sharpen thing.

[Doug Brown]

Hi Linz. The King Vulture is definitely one of the cooler birds I've ever had the opportunity to photograph. I like the pose here; it reminds me of a vampire raising his cape. You've got good detail on the wing, but sharpness falls off a bit as you reach the head. When possible I try to focus on the eye on perched birds. It takes a bit of practice to move your focus point around quickly, but the payoff is a critically sharp eye. I agree with the others about your watermark.

[LinzRiverBalmer]

thank you Doug for the comments and input.

I have a newer camera and more knowledge for the future bout aiming on the eye.

The watermark is being work on as we speak.