Theme: Snow Goose portrait

[Kurt Bowman]

I was out looking for a rare sighting in Tucson (an Elegant Tern) and spotted this Snow Goose which is strange to see here this time of year as well. He/she was calling out for friends. Added some canvas to the left.
Sony a9ii
200-600mm with 1.4 TC
1/8000 at f/9
ISO 1600

[Randy Stout]

Kurt:

I can hear him squawking from here. Sharp, nice textures, bird plays well against the blue background. Well framed.

On my monitor , some subtle pixelation in the bg.

Cheers

Randuy

[Joseph Przybyla]

Hi Kurt, I agree with Randy, I also can here him squawking. On my display the image appears a tad dark, also the whites I think can be raised. That said I have never photographed this bird so really not sure if your image is correct. Thank you for sharing.

[gail bisson]

Love that tongue!
I agree that the overall exposure could go up 1/3 of a stop.
I would clone out the extra catchlight if mine.
Gail

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi Kurt, like Will's image this has so much potential within the capture that with some simple tweaks will really standout.

Taking into account the above regarding exposure, getting some richness back into the bill, (it's just appears a little flat in colour), a little light/life back in the eye, (you can see the pupil), plus some general sharpening, the whole image takes greater shape. You will then see even more in the lovely texture in the top part of the bill, as Randy mentioned, the water droplets in the white plumage are more defined and then the lower bill with it's gorgeous serrated edge, sadly nothing in the shadow of the mouth.:w3

Love the simplicity here Kurt, a nice portrait, worth a relook in my book.

TFS
Steve

BTW all my comments are always based on application, so I know it works. :S3:

[Andreas Liedmann]

Hi Kurt ... lovely head shot with the open beak and visible tongue is really cool , taking this up notch .

Overall i do find it a bit dark , with the suggestions above I think it will come to real life .... and more glory .

TFS Andreas

[Arthur Morris]

Yes, as noted above, too dark overall. But very nice. Love the detail on the bill.

with love, artie

[arash_hazeghi]

Open bill and view of the tongue make this special. Looks 1/2 stop under exposed on my screen. Easy fix

TFS

[Kurt Bowman]

Thanks for the comments and suggestions everyone. Here is a new version incorporating the suggestions.191003

[John Mack]

The repost looks better. I do like the framing and that dark background goes great with the white bird. Nice view of the tongue.

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi Kurt, the RP is an improvement, but there is definitely more you can pull from the image, plus it can stand another third of a stop increase, but as Artie said, we all see things differently.

[Wayne Niz]

Fantastic pic well done