Killdeer Preening

[gail bisson]

Took this last week at 8:05AM
Canon 1 DX 600mm v3
ISO 800 F 7.1 1/3200 Handheld, sitting on ground with car as a backrest.
Cropped to 60% FF. Nothing added or cloned.
Should I crop out the dandelion? Does the lack of catchlight bug you?
Comments and critiques always appreciated and learned from with thanks,
Gail

[Randy Stout]

GAIL:

Love the splayed feathers, colors, well exposed.

I normally don't mind a colorful 'flower' in the frame, but it is just distracting enough that I would crop it out. I would probably experiment with the composition a bit more after removing the dandelion, as it seems a bit centered for my taste. I know you don't want to give up too much canvas because of the crop
however.

The lack of catchlight is no problem. I wouldn't expect one with the eye at this angle.

Randy

[Colin Driscoll]

Lovely light and feather detail. Yes to removing the Dandelion, and no problem with lack of catchlight. The only little nit I have is that the dark beak is blended into the dark feather.

[Aditya Sridhar]

Very nicely done Gail. The light is sweet and I love the bird's pose. Superb detail. The dandelion is slightly distracting but not as much as the leaves right next to it. They really draw my eye away from the bird unfortunately. The lack of a catchlight isn't bothering me at all. I would also maybe burn the intrusive leaf at the bottom-left corner.

[greg cowle]

Great light and details. I like the yellow flower, but I can see it being distracting to some. Catchlight would be odd at that angel, but the bright ring around the eye means the eye does not get lost in any case.

[Bill Dix]

Beautiful light and preening pose. I composed my reply before reading your text, and then saw that you addressed my thoughts. I think the dandelion bud is a little distracting. I might crop it out, to just past the tip of the uppermost dandelion leaf, and add a corresponding amount on the right (depending on what is out there) to slightly shift the bird leftward. I also wish the tip of the bill were a little more visible, but you can't have everything.

[Krishna Prasad kotti]

Pose is very nice. Colors and details on the birds are also good.

I think if you were more to the left you could have got cleaner background

Dandelion is distracting and not adding much to the image.

TFS

[John Mack]

That sure is some nice light. Nice preening pose as well. Looks like the typical gravel environment. Leave the dadelion.

[dankearl]

You had nice light but too much going on here for me.. I would remove the dandalion and I think
a better HA would be nice.

[Dorian Anderson]

This is a nice in-habitat view; it's a perfect depiction of this bird's scrubby preferences even if some of the backing vegetation is a bit distracting. I love the view of the tail feathers but wish we had a bit more eye contact - or at least a catchlight.