Distinguished Gentleman

[Melissa Groo]

This wood stork makes me think of a venerable old man in his finery. Took this last year in Fort Myers, when I was just beginning bird photography. Resurrecting photos and trying to process better. The feathers on the neck were a bit hot, I sampled other feathers and painted over at 20% opacity or so in a few places. Did a little dodging and burning to even things out. Would love to know how I could further improve. Of course I now know I should have gone for a smaller aperture.
This is quite a big crop.
I like the BG but would like to know if others find it too distracting and I should tone it down.

Canon 5DII
420mm
HH

1/4000 sec
f/5.6
ISO 1000

Thanks much in advance for any comments and critiques.

[Jeff Parker]

Nice plumage around the neck.

I find the background a bit busy. I would not go for a smaller aperture (bigger number) as this would make the background have less blur. The bird lacks sharpness. You say this is a big crop, I might back off a little. It's a bit tight in front of the beak for me.

[gail bisson]

You did a great job with burning and dodging. I agree that image is a bit soft so I would loosen the crop a bit to see if you can get IQ up. I like your title!
Gail
I am just OK with BG-not a deal breaker!

[Melissa Groo]

Ok, I backed out-- a lot. And did some more sharpening. I wasn't crazy about not seeing the feet and the darkness under tail, but perhaps this wider view is an improvement.

[dankearl]

The Re-post looks much better.
I would just lighten it a bit, run some NR over the BG, (not that is looks noisy, just would smooth it out a bit).
A really great looking bird.

[Melissa Groo]

Thanks Dan, that's helpful. Here's a repost with your suggestions.

[Clemens Vanderwerf]

Melissa,

My biggest issue with the image is the light angle. The side angle give very contrasty results on a white/black bird like this one. The crop is too big and the sharpness not enough to make it work as presented.

[Melissa Groo]

Thanks Clemens. Posting this has certainly helped me answer the question about whether this image is salvageable or not--it's not! It's just that he was such a beautiful bird and I didn't want to consign him to the trash bin... but I think I will. Learning about light angle all the time here, and hoping not to make the same mistake again.

[Clemens Vanderwerf]

Melissa,

Light (sun) angle and head angle were the first lessons I learned and try to stick to every time. If you constantly do that your images will improve big time, and you will end up throwing away anything that does not pass that test. I am sure there will be another "distinguished gentleman" on your path pretty soon!

[Melissa Groo]

Thanks so much for the encouraging words, Clemens, I really appreciate it!