Fluffing (GBH)

[wendell westfall]

70s 70-200VR+2X@140 1/800 f/7.1 ISO640 handheld

I caught this fellow turning and coming out of those California bulrushes after having speared a small fish in the water below -- the prey is still in his gullet. I guess he was rearranging his feathers after the catch (the fluffing was surely not due to its being cold; the sun shone bright). The image is only slightly cropped and tweaked. I know he was watching me, but I do wish he had been looking more directly at me. It is a pretty "busy" image. I took lots of pictures of the guy -- how did I do on this one?

Wendell

[Jeff Cashdollar]

wendell,

Was 140 you focal length? The reason I ask, I would like to see the image larger, do you have more room on the left, I might expand that direction (if possible, or add canvas) and QM or clone the LLHC.

Not sure if you could have opened up the aperture a stop or so due to TC, but it might have blurred the BG some and made things not so busy.

In my opinion with these shots, either get close and remove as much non-value adding material as possible (with lens or human zoom) or make the habitat a part of the subject not a competing aspect of the image. On balance, great moment in the life of nature.

[wendell westfall]

Yes, Jeff, it was 140, and, unfortunately I have no room on the left. And you can see it would be tough to add with the background as it is . . .

[Lance Peters]

Hi Wendell -- BG is what it is - dont know if opening up would have made that much difference as the BG looks to be very close to the bird anyway.
Like the ruffled look - the white area of road in the LLHC corner takes my attention away from the bird - perhaps you could clone some grass in there and it may improve.
Keep them coming:)

[Gus Cobos]

Hi Wendell,
I like the intense look on this little fellow...agree with the techs. Would have liked to have seen a lower capture angle and perhaps an aperture setting of f/4 or even an f/2.8 to blur the background some more...I also like the ruffled feathers...looking forward to your next one...:cool:

[Alfred Forns]

Hi Wendell In this case would like to see more room up front than behind and a larger opening to lessen bg detail Love the fluffing !!!

[Bob Miller]

Hi Wendall...Nice sharpness but I have to agree with jeff about the road taking my eye away. I think moving much closer with more focal length and a more open aperture would improve the image.