Bird or Beast?

[Bill Dix]

Here's another shot of one of the juvie Peregrine Falcons that we ran across in Cape May. This pose makes him look (to my warped eye, at least) like a mythological Gryffon. All he needs is a lion's tail.

A branch bisected the bird's left wing, so some reconstructive surgery was needed. More intervention than I normally like to do, but I thought he was worth a little extra effort. Also adjusted Levels, added a sliver of canvas on the right.

D500, 500f4, ISO 2000, 1/2500s @ f/7.1 manual; Gitzo and Mongoose.

[Daniel Cadieux]

A beast of a bird! Great wingspread. The near high-key works well too. I had not noticed the wing reconstruction until I read what you did. Now that I know, you are about 95% there for a perfect job - but it is a tough one...great work.

[John Mack]

Nice detail and sharpness here good composition and great pose.

[Jonathan Ashton]

Lovely job Bill but check out the streak of lightening above the left wing approximately mid point.

[Frank sheets]

Great shot of a beautiful young falcon. Pretty good reconstructive surgery as well. Reminds me of an Egyptian idol.

[Bill Dix]

Thanks guys. Jonathan, I couldn't see the light streak at first, but I darkened the bg by just a few points and it became even more evident. (An artifact of the branch that was removed using Content Aware Fill.) Thanks for pointing it out. I've also brightened the bright parts of the bird just a tiny bit, except for a few bright spots on the face.

ps I can still see a tiny bit of that streak, as I look at the preview. I should go back to the larger file and remove it properly.

[Geoffrey Montagu]

Wonderful capture, Bill. Beautiful light, wing stretch, and intensity in his eyes. Like the quality of BG here, and great reconstructive work.

Geoffrey




http://500px.com/geoffreymontagu (http://500px.com/geoffreymontagu)

[William Dickson]

I really like the crop you chose, it shows the bird well. Nice underwing feather detail, and I like the HA. Lovely colours throughout the image.

Will

[Bill Dix]

Thanks again everyone.