Kruger Vulture Silhouette

[Morkel Erasmus]

I created this image on my recent trip to the Kruger National Park. I like the hint of blue in the sky and the various jutted shapes here.

Your critiques and comments to improve this will be greatly appreciated...

Techs:
Canon 1000D with 100-400mm L IS USM
f5.6 @ 1/4000 SS @ ISO-800
Exp +0.3

I did some cloning on some cluttering branches.

[Kiran Poonacha]

Loved the setting Bhai, would just suggest to clone out the blue patch, behind the bird.. congrats..

[Jeni Williams]

Hi Morkel, I like the mood but have to agree re the blue patch.

[Dion Lifton]

Good silhouette Morkel , agree with the blue patch though .

[Morkel Erasmus]

thanks for your thoughts Dion, Kiran & Jeni!

I happen to love the blue patch as it breaks the tension in the overcast clouds for me so I think I'll leave it. :)

[Juan Aragonés]

Hey Morkel, this is a very good example of dramatism. I like it a lot and agree that the blue area is a bit distracting. the image seems to be a bit tight in the right side.

[Joe Senzatimore]

Love it a it is posted , except for the one branch that is blocking the tail. Don't know if there is a fix for that.

[Harshad Barve]

lovely pose , agreed on blue patch
TFS

[Stu Bowie]

Hey Mork, super silhouette, and you got a great pose with a head turn too. The blue patch has been mentioned, but if you had a few other patches of blue, it would work. I like the silhouetted branches curled against the sky.

[Doug Brown]

Very dramatic image! I like the sky color, although I'd remove the blue areas. I'd also add a sliver of canvas on the left to give the upward-pointing branch a little room.

[Morkel Erasmus]

thanks for the time taken to comment Juan, Harshad, Stu, Joe & Doug.
seems like everyone is pining for removal of the blue so I'll have to at least have a look at removing it ;)

here is a version where I applied desaturation to all the colours but kept some red and yellow to keep the mood as in the OP. I also cloned out the left branch as there wasn't any room left in the RAW - should have taken more shots but he only sat still for a moment.

[Daniel Cadieux]

Very cool silhouette image of the vulture...this has a very sinister feel to it (I mean this in a good way). Even when desaturated the "blue" patch is distracting. It's just too dark and too close to the bird. I love the rest of the BG though. On both versions there are clone marks (?) between the bird and branch, and the repost is oversharpened. Still very enjoyable image that has tremendous potential with some additional TLC applied to it :-)

[Connie Mier]

I really like both posts, the second is definitely an improvement. I really like the mood you captured.

[Morkel Erasmus]

thanks Daniel & Connie...