Eurasian Hoopoe

[Aditya Sridhar]

This Eurasian Hoopoe was photographed in my backyard. Not sure if this image fits in the July's theme but I decided to give it a shot (no pun intended) :t3 It's surprisingly difficult to photograph these birds as they're always hunting on grass and it's nigh impossible to get their feet in the frame. This image needed a moderate level of cloning (read: removal of a massive manhole cover and tons of weeds), but I think it was worth the effort. The foreground weed is unfortunate, but at least now I know to mow my lawn frequently :bg3: Also, the image needed to be downsized quite a bit to fit within the upload limit so that may have affected image quality.

Camera - Nikon D850
Focal Length - 420mm
Aperture - f/5.6
Shutter Speed - 1/2000s
ISO - 2800
Handheld
Manual

The image was shot at sunset, but the bird was under some shade so I did not have a lot of light to work with. The bird wasn't attracted by calls or food (if anything, I probably scared it away with my bright purple hoodie but that's besides the point :t3)

Hope you enjoy it! I'd appreciate any feedback/critiques :S3:

[John Mack]

Talk about timing. Just right on with that bug in the open bill. Head angle is nice as well. Image quality is very nice as well.

[Moe Richard]

You timed this one well. God job on the detail and cloning. I think the bird would pop more if it was a little darker.

[Daniel Cadieux]

Very cool. I love the floating spider and almost joyfaul look on the hoopoe. With low angle images of bird standing in grass I am fine with the feet not showing. Good job on the cloning - sounds like it was a big job. Yes, that brownish oof area bottom center edge is unfortunate - get that grass mowed now!:t3

[gail bisson]

Very nice image and you did a great job on the cloning- sounds like it was a big job.
I would add a point or 2 of blacks to the neutrals in selective coloring to give this image a big of a boost. I find it a bit flat as is. You could also adjust black point in levels as another option.
Love the spider and agree with Daniel that the hoopoe looks so happy.
Keep em' coming and welcome to BPN!
Gail

[Aditya Sridhar]

Thanks a lot for the feedback guys! Here's the edited version incorporating the suggestions put forward by Moe and Gail. I added a hint of Blacks to the neutrals using Selective Color and removed the foreground distraction.

[Krishna Prasad kotti]

Excellent Capture. Perfect Timing.

Repost is really nice. I would have increased Vibrance to improve the image.
TFS