Crested Caracara

[Joseph Przybyla]

Dottie and I were in the area of Joe Overstreet Road in Osceola County, Florida, we took the opportunity to slowly ride the length of the road. I captured this Crested Caracara when it flew up from road kill in the bushes to the top of the fencepost. Comments and critique welcomed and appreciated. Thank you for viewing.

Nikon D7000
Nikon 80-400mm F/4.5-5.6 VRII AF-S ED shot at 400mm (600mm FFE)
1/2000 F/5.6 Matrix Metering + 1 EV ISO 2800 ( the 1/2000 shutter speed was a screw up, I must have move the dial raising the camera )
Cropped for composition, blended area of dark background at the top of image, cloned our a couple dark distracting spots

[Sidharth Kodikal]

A handsome bird and I love the pose Joe. I absolutely love the bg. The fence post and the barbed wire surprisingly don't bug me at all.
I haven't calibrated my monitor in a while so take this with a pinch of salt - the image looks a bit bright to me.
Nicely done Joe

[Joseph Przybyla]

Hello Sidharth, thank you for taking time to view, comment and offer a gentle suggestion. You are absolutely right, the image as posted is too bright/saturated. Not sure what happened or why, when I went to the image iin Lightroom it was obvious. Maybe because I worked on it this morning with dark gloomy cloudy weather making the room dark, other than that I do not know. Here is a repost hopefully better. Thanks again.

P.S. The fence posts and barbed wire are common along the pastures, it is common to see this bird perched on the posts.

[keith mitchell]

Hi Joe with the repost being darker really makes the image stand out more, great looking bird ,no problem with post or wire, would be very pleased if it was mine.

Keith.

[William Dickson]

Hi Joe, great looking image, I actually like the original post better. I think it is more pleasing on the eye. Good work and thanks for sharing

[Jim Crosswell]

I like the setting, pose and composition. I like the OP better as well but did a little more to it to make it look a little less washed out. Nice Image Joe.

[David Salem]

Jim's re-post is exactly what this frame needed. The colors were fine, just that washed out look. Otherwise the frame looks great and I don't mind the post and wire either as it is part of the western desert area that i live in.
Well done

[Daniel Cadieux]

Ditto what Dave said. I love the splayed wings...but oh for a better head angle though! I guess it's alright this way too as if it is scanning the area, but for me just a few degrees more this way would have been tops. Congrats on a beautiful image.

[Joseph Przybyla]

Thanks everyone for viewing, commenting and offering suggestions and edits.

Jim I shall strive to make mine look as good as your edit and example, thanks a lot for taking the time.

[Binu John]

Excellent shot! Lovely pose and light. Excellent exposure and composition. The RP is perfect.