Crested Caracara

Dottie and I went for a drive yesterday afternoon to Joe Overstreet Road in Kenansville, Florida. Along with seeing many Eastern Meadowlarks we were fortunate to see and photograph this Crested Caracara. Comments and critique welcomed and appreciated. Thank you for viewing.

Nikon D7000
Nikon 80-400mm F/4.5-5.6 VRII AF-S ED shot at 400mm (600mm FFE)
1/1600 F/5.6 Matrix Metering +1 EV ISO 560, camera handheld braced against the vehicle
Post processed in Lightroom 6 and Photoshop Elements 10
Cropped for composition and presentation

I have never had much luck with Joe Overstreet Road but you did well with this handsome guy. Maybe Dottie is the lucky charm and I should take her on my next visit!!:bg3:
Great 2 toned BG but the best part is the feather.
You got great DOF on this guy for an aperture of 5.6.
I think you could pull up the shadows a bit here without introducing to much noise.

nice pose and good light, I also like the small feather hanging from its talons. I wish you had a more natural perch. Agree with raising the shadows.

I visited Joe Overstreet 5-6 years ago and remember the caracars from that trip

Great find, and he gave you a lovely pose. Feather in the talons adds a nice touch. Well captured, Joe.

Striking image Joe. I remember that part of Florida, it offers some great birds.

Hi Joe, lovely light which has brought out his eye nicely with the head turn. I do like the feather detail, as well as the feather stuck to his foot. The two tone BG adds a lot to the overall image.

Lovely pose and BG. Perch is where caracaras most often perch herein FL. I would personally leave the blacks where they are. Your exposure on the portion of the bird which is actually being hit by the sun is right on. Shadows aren't necessarily a bad thing as they often add depth and interest to an image. My favorite part of this image is absolutely that feather!!!

Excellent work! The perch is typical for that part of the country, and it doesn't bother me at all. Processing, comp, all look great, but the feather is what sets this one very high in my opinion.

Joe beginning to think that your wife Dottie is a very good bird finder, it,s funny how a simple feather makes all the difference just adds something, bird looks spot on the perch reminds me of home, very nice job.

Keith.

Excellent image Joe! I like the pose, exposure, details, BG and composition.

Thanks everyone for viewing, and commenting. Very much appreciated...