Black-winged Stilt - Himantopus himantopus

Hi all,
taken at WTP Vic Aus.
f/8, 1/80, iso 100.. 5d mk iii, 500mm, 1.4x iii.. handheld. sharpened.
slight crop.
Attachment 139810
Cheers,
Merv

I like the low angle and the environment but I feel it would be a stronger image if you cropped the dark band at the bottom and made more like a pano. Also, if possible without adding too much noise, I would try to sharpen the bird slightly.

This has a quite lovely feel to it, but I agree with Joel that a pano with some of the bottom removed would make it better yet. I think I'm seeing a sharpening halo at the back of the stilt's head. I don't know if you can sharpen him more.

I would crop from the bottom as well but not all of it. I do like the transition from the different colors in the image.

I would bring the stilt down a bit in the frame Mervyn, but I would not change the mysterious image design.

First of all, congratulations on thinking outside of the box. Whether or not this image is a hit, it's nice to see a different perspective and to see that you were thinking about your environment and your options. I just pulled this into PS. I don't have your original but based upon what you've shared here, I think the image is a bit stronger with some off of the left and some off of the bottom.

hi all, thanks for all the feedback, think I might cut out the brown from the bottom and make it a pano.
Cheers,
Merv