One Giant Step day 14

[kevin Hice]

Photo was taken in National Grasslands Sd at 6.33 am dew on the rock. The rock was added,not many rocks in the grasslands. Wanted something different.Not simply placing a rock any where on the Lek. Have to place it close to sun angle and not interfere with other opportunities.
Place it so it's not in the front of a distracting prairie dog mound.Figure which pair of birds is most likely to stand on the rock. I only saw the bird jump up three times in sixteen days, Day fourteen was the first. Have no clue if bird will stay for one second
or ten seconds. Not much time to change settings,focal points. I was having a hard time on the cropping,I decided to show the whole rock Comments appreciated. I did add a little canvas on the bottom. Processed with Dpp 4,Photoshop,Neat image.

Canon 1 DX 111
500 f/4 L IS
500 mm
Av
7.1
1/3200
Iso 3200

[Randy Stout]

Kevin:

Fun frame. I absolutely would keep the entire rock. Gives a sense of scale. Great timing, well exposed, good color palette.

I have mixed feelings about the bird in the background. I appreciate the story telling component, but because the orange stands out, and it is pretty close to the subject's head, it does tend to pull the eye away from the subject. Personal taste really.

Cheers

Randy

[John Mack]

Nice framing and light. The bird in the background gives some depth. Nice you caught the bird on the edge of the rock.

[Colin Driscoll]

A well thought out setup. Great light and engaging pose and head angle.
For mine I would definitely wipe out the bird in the BG.

[Jonathan Ashton]

Processing much improved, I might be tempted to lower the highlights on his but. I would remove the OOF bird, it is not adding it is detraction. I would also revisit the canvas extension, it looks too apparent, either live with no extension or try a different approach.

[arash_hazeghi]

pretty cool shot with a precarious looking pose! well done. If mine I'd get rid of the OOF chicken in the BG