Common Gallinule

[Joseph Przybyla]

I captured this image at Lake Morton in Lakeland, Florida. Comments and critique welcomed and appreciated. Thank you for viewing.

Nikon D500
Nikon 80-400mm F/4.5-5.6 VRII AF-S ED, camera and lens supported by a monopod
1/1600 F/5.6 Matrix Metering EV -1/3 ISO 140 Auto 1 WB, image captured at 400mm
Post processed in Lightroom Classic, Photoshop CC 2020 and Neat Image for noise reduction
Cropped for composition and presentation

P.S. Learn more about Lake Morton in the BAA Middle Florida Photography Site Guide that Artie and I co-authored. It is available at this link The BAA Middle of Florida Site Guide (https://birdsasart-shop.com/the-baa-middle-of-florida-photographic-site-guide/)

[Jack Backs]

Composition is good. Unfortunately the head is out of focus with noise. The soft head is a deal killer for me.

[Dorian Anderson]

Agree with the soft head comment. Headshots need to be technically perfect to land. I'd also move the bird left in the frame, just to where the white wing patch appears.

[Joseph Przybyla]

Hi Jack and Dorian, thank you for commenting and viewing the image. I revisited the image tweaked the radius in Lightroom sharpening and reposted it. Not sure what you may have seen but to me it appears sharp and without noise. I hope others comment, maybe I am missing something. Thanks again.

[John Mack]

Nice pose and framing. The blue water background is nice.

[David Roach]

Is the repost in place? The head looks plenty sharp and especially that eye. Maybe the light brighter on breast is what they are talking about but I see details all around. Where is the focus point? TFS

[Joseph Przybyla]

Is the repost in place? The head looks plenty sharp and especially that eye. Maybe the light brighter on breast is what they are talking about but I see details all around. Where is the focus point? TFS

Hi David, thanks for commenting and viewing. The image as posted is the revisited image. The active focus point was on the chin area and partially on the sky. I changed the sharpening radius a little bit added a slight amount of contrast and reposted the image. I couldn't see why Jack and Dorian mentioned that the head was soft. These birds do get lighter on the sides, the head being the darkest. Thanks again, David.