First Post: Purple Gallinule

[John LeClair]

183820

This was taken at Shark Valley in ENP (Everglades Nat. Park) back in October of '18. About 25% crop. Looking forward to the forum's feedback!

Canon 5D MIV
100-400 5.6
1.4 TC
1/800 @ F8
ISO 1250
Edited in LR & PS

[Randy Stout]

John:

A big welcome to BPN! A colorful fellow to start with. Excellent action, wings up, like the balance on the Lilly pad, the slight head angle our way, composition.

I would try to tone down the whites a bit on the rump, and the yellow water Lilly flower just ahead o f his feet, both are a little overexposed and show some loss of detail.

The background is a bit busy, but that is his world, and in order to get more of him in focus, the trade off was sharper background as well. You could very gently soften the background, particularly in the left upper corner, as it tends to draw my eye.

Overall, a really fun image. Look forward to more.

Cheers

Randy

[John LeClair]

Thanks Randy! Great feedback. I agree, the background is busy, but yeah, those guys are hard to find without one in my experience. I will go back and see about getting a few more highlights and a bit more blur on the background. All great suggestions. Thanks.

[Arthur Morris]

Hi John,

Nice first post and a huge welcome to BPN. Thanks a stack for your membership support. I like the image and the soft light. It is sharp and the near-underwing detail is superb. Bummer that the REDs on the bird's face and the rest of the colors are somewhat faded. My repost addresses Randy's excellent suggestions (and a few of my comments as well).

with love, artie

[Arthur Morris]

ps: I tried to fix that WHITEs on the tail but some of them were too hot ...

a

[John LeClair]

Thanks for the feedback and the attempt to correct blown whites Artie. Sitting here at work and looking at it, I suspected that would be what I found if I tried. Highlights blown. Certainly on the water lily, but the whites also. Should have checked by blinkies and cut exposure a 1/3 or so.

[Dorian Anderson]

Welcome! Good looking first frame! Good in-habitat view of this wonderful bird. Sharpness look good but TC on that lens is tough as you're at f/8. Woulda been nice to have another stop of freeze on the bird. I
hardly mind whites on tail. They're minor/peripheral as our eye goes right to his. Yellow legs are money.

[Daniel Cadieux]

Awesome action indeed, and although busy I like the habitat. Good suggestions and advice so far. I have an additional one, and it would be to remove the small black speck in front of the bill. Although tiny, my eye keeps going to it. I'm sure you will enjoy it here on BPN!

[John LeClair]

Geez, didn't even notice it but can't look away now! Thanks Daniel. I'll pull out the RAW file this weekend see if I can tweek a few improvements.

[John LeClair]

Thanks Dorian. Yes, I am lens challenged! :)

[Mike Poole]

Welcome John, lovely first post.

All nits already mentioned, so for me, the positives are the low shooting angle, leg and wing positions, and as a fan of environmental shots, I also like the BG

Mike

[John LeClair]

Thanks Mike. I appreciate everyone's feedback. The skill level on this forum is humbling, everyone's comments mean a lot. Hopefully I can continue to improve and close the gap a bit.

[John Mack]

Looks great to me. Love the pose and the setting. Great colors in this one. Keep em coming.