The Receptionist (Secretary Bird)

I found this image taken in March 2012 in the Kalahari (in very harsh light) and re-processed it tonight. I did quite a big crop here, did not touch the background much- no cloning or painting, only blurred it at 100%. Started in Lightroom and worked on exposure, brightness, then upped the clarity a tad. Then in CS6 I lightened the eye using levels and sharpened the bird (unsharp mask). I am trying to do less these days, I used to over-process my images and looking back these days I feel I have to delete everything and start all over again.

Exif info for this image is:

Nikon D3S
Nikon VR 500mm F4
ISO 400
1/3200s
F6.3

Critique and comments much appreciated.

Warmest regards,

Hi Gaby, I like your choice of comp, and you have captured a pretty good pose and HA. Love the eyelash shadows over the eyes. We have a great view of that beak that can certainly do damage. The harsh light and larger crop is affecting the overall IQ, but I know when we travel to far away parks we need to shoot anything that crosses our lens, as most times we dont get a second chance.

I really like the strong light here as it is rendering detail that I find very pleasing. And I'm a soft-light person, normally. I love how it has brought out the feathers.

Very nice shot.
I really like the pose, very nice background, and great comp.
The light is harsh, but handled well.
Well done.

Extremely sharp and well exposed for the conditions.
I love the eyelashes.

First thing that grabs my eyes if the long eyelash shadows across that ever so clear eye....excellent ! Not sure if it's just strong light or maybe a little over sharpened, nonetheless the detail is extroadinary. Great choice of crop, sits in the vertical frame well. I have always been intrigued by these birds and have seen a few on documentaries, such an elegant and interesting species

Hi Gabriela,
If all receptionists looked like this there would be a lot less office romances!!:bg3:
The killer aspect of this image are the eyelash shadows over the eye. Just love it.
The light does seem quite harsh but then if it wasn't so bright we might not see the eyelash shadows .
Good comp. How big of a crop is a big crop?
Gail

Hello everyone, and thank you for your input-it really makes me reconsider my abilities to photograph and process...Herewith a jpeg version of the original image. And thank you Gail, I am very grateful for you taking an interest in my work and taking the time to view and comment!

Warmest regards,

Gabriela

Excellent portrait with superb colors,lights and nice composition.
Love the details and crest feathers,great feathers details and above all the shadows of eyelids on the yellow eye.

Regards,
Satish.