Red Grouse Portrait

[William Dickson]

Canon 5D4
f/4 500mm
f/6.3
1/800
ISO 800

Another Red Grouse image from my usual haunt. I captured this one as the early morning sun rose over the mountains behind me. I managed to get quite close to the bird, and decided to go for the portrait shot. Processed with PS 2019. Loving my 5D4.

Will

[John Mack]

Very nice. Killer portrait all around. Really like the light here.

[arash_hazeghi]

nice HA and BG, I find the center composition a bit awkward, a vertical might work better here. sharp but quite contrasty as a result of side light, the blacks are blocked....

TFS

[Jake Levin]

You have a way with these birds that I don't even need to know who the photographer is anymore! The colour palette is gorgeous as always, both the bird and the background. I don't see a problem with the contrast level in the whites, since I can see fine detail wherever they show up. Only the blacks on the left side of the bird's body are blocked-out dark, and for me, they don't draw the eye, but if they bug you, you might be able to pull some detail out of them in Photoshop. The 5D4 is indeed a great piece of equipment!

Nice job overall.

[Krishna Prasad kotti]

Love the eyes. Black should be opened up. I love your other grouse images than this one.

TFS

[Stu Bowie]

Hi Will, excellent HA here. I really like the overall colours and detail, and yes to a sweet BG too. Comp wise, using the mouse scroll, I can see a version to come up from the bottom in line with the top of the wings.

A new Toy - Congrats. Did you sell your 1D X

[Isaac Grant]

Looks really good William. That warm light made this already beautiful bird look even more intense. I do not mind the blacks being blocked at all as that area would be out of focus anyway.

[Jonathan Ashton]

Nice shot Will but I think the contrast is too high, much of the darkest plumage lacks detail and some is totally clipped.

[William Dickson]

Thanks for the comments, much appreciated.

Will

[William Dickson]

Hi Will, excellent HA here. I really like the overall colours and detail, and yes to a sweet BG too. Comp wise, using the mouse scroll, I can see a version to come up from the bottom in line with the top of the wings.

A new Toy - Congrats. Did you sell your 1D X

Hi Stu...Thanks for that, I kept the 1DX, need it for my flight shots :S3:

Will

[annmpacheco]

Hi Will, another instant fav! I second Stu's suggestion of starting your crop at the top of the wings... Love the details, colors and that dreamy BG... One of these days I'm going to go through my grouse files!

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi Will, I like the warmth to the image, but like Arash mentioned, it's a bit choked and a little crunchy in the finer detail in parts due to the light, but you should be aiming to get more detail in the plumage, especially with the 5D4 compared to the 1DX. Perhaps up your DoF next time, as I guess you were quite close and no harm in pushing that ISO a fraction more for a hint more SS.

TFS
Steve

[Arthur Morris]

I like it a lot. Reducing the contrast a bit would improve it and I like the idea of cropping to 2X3 from the bottom.

with love, artie