Sora

Attachment 143153

These birds are quite secretive. As soon as I heard it calling, I sat still on the edge of the dike in light rain and watched this Sora crossed from one side of the marsh, through the dike, and into the other side. I had plenty of closeups but I thought it would be nice to get a wider angle (despite at a telephoto focal length).

Murray Marsh, Sturgeon County, AB, Canada.
Canon EOS 7D | Canon EF 300mm f/2.8L IS + Kenko 1.4x Teleplus PRO 300 DGX + Canon Extender EF 1.4x II.
Manual mode, 1/640 sec., f/7.1, ISO 800, handheld.

All C&Cs are welcome!

Thanks,
Raymond

This is a nice example of how 'small in the frame' sometimes works well. I just scrolled the image down the screen a bit to cut off some of the background vegetation and thereby make the image more plano and it looks interesting - I suggest you experiment with this idea. Regards, Ian.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Ian Wilson

This is a nice example of how 'small in the frame' sometimes works well. I just scrolled the image down the screen a bit to cut off some of the background vegetation and thereby make the image more plano and it looks interesting - I suggest you experiment with this idea. Regards, Ian.

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It is a great idea Ian! Thanks! I think it looks good if I crop out up to where that blurred yellow/orange-coloured grass near the top-middle of the frame.

I like the comp as is. Gives me a great idea of the smallness of this little guy out in the great big world.
The raised foot adds a nice sense of movement.
I would tone down the white, diagonal,OOF grass on RHS. It drags the eye away from the sora.
A really nice image,
Gail

I have a fondness for small in the frame birds images with habitat, and this one is no different. You did a great job portraying this bashful bird, and the raised foot and grass in its beak adds a lot. I would crop a bit off of the bottom.

Although the pano idea is good I do like the comp as is as it portrays the tall reeds of the habitat nicely. I do wish there was more separation between the subject's back and the reed line above it, and the white water surface, although unavoidable, is a bit harsh IMO. Good walking pose from the subject and I like that it is carrying something in its bill.

This is awesome Raymond! Great side profile and it's visually amazing how dwarfed the sora is compared to the surrounding reeds. My eyes explore this scene with ease and interest. I enjoy the depth of the image too. It's not an easy image to pull off this well!

Thanks for everyone's input. I left the crop as is. I toned down the grasses on the right side. I added a gradient Gaussian Blur Layer (60% opacity). I added a curve layer mask to tone down some of the highlights on the right side as well as the top. Finally, I cleaned up the marsh surface as much as I could.

Here's the repost:

Attachment 143175

Raymond