Turkey Vulture sunning

Saw some good light this morning so grabbed the camera and went for a walk. Didn't get 50 yards before I found this guy/gal digging the rays. It let me get closer than I thought it would, but only because I was standing in a patch of poison oak. I love how everything in photography comes with a compromise. After this it turned around and folded up its wings and let me get even closer.

7D2, 400 DO II + 1.4X III, ISO 800, 1/800, f/7.1. Handheld. Basic adjustments in LR (exposure was to the right) and into PS for some very minor BG cleanup. Did NR while there (Nik Dfine) but doubt it would have shown here if I hadn't.

Not the prettiest bird out there, but I love the perch. Thank goodness the bird cooperated by turning its head a little bit and spread its wing! :)

One of the best images of a Turkey Vulture I've seen, Diane. You're right about the good light, and goodness, how well you took advantage of it with this cooperative beauty. Yes beauty.
The feather and head detail is outstanding. You captured the feather sheen beautifully. Great perch and like the BG and its color.

Geoffrey

Wonderful perch, nice feather detail, Head turn, it all came together for you, Diane. Now if you do not get poison oak it will be perfect. Thank you for sharing.

Great look at all that feather detail - almost takes the attention away from that 'only a mother could love' head!

I get magpies and sparrows within 50 yards of my house - California has some serious advantages over England!

Nice work.

Mike

Thanks, guys! Used old rubber gloves from the gardening bucket to remove my boots (outside) and threw them (the gloves) away.

Cool, and the near wing is especially impressive in position and detail. The gnarly perch matches the bird's persona. Perfectly exposed. I'd love a bit more room above if you have it. I'm wondering if the image is a touch cyan/green? Perhaps adding a little bit of reds to the overall color balance would be good? Super nice all around!

What more needs to be said, Grasshopper? Wing position, feather detail complete with sheen. Great perch, pose and BG. Did you continue on your walk? Would you consider taking out the little stump under the birds tail? Or do you think this anchors the pose? I hope we get to see the turn around pose!

Thanks Daniel! White balancing on the most neutral appearing parts of the perch (which is bleached to what looks like a neutral gray to the eye) reduces warmth a little but doesn't shift things away from cyan / green or toward red. I never know what is exactly right for WB but with the light here there would have most likely been some slight warmth with the soft clouds.

Thanks Glennie -- just saw your post after I composed mine. I did think about pruning that stump but didn't get around to it. Opinions solicited!

After tiptoeing back thru the poison oak I caught a few Golden-crowned Sparrows, who are not hard to find as I'm The Thing that scatters bird seed. But I couldn't wait to see what I got with the TV. Will post one of the slightly closer views tomorrow, but it was just a static pose. Wish they didn't sleep in vertically-arranged bunks.

Update on the poison oak in a week or so, but the leaf buds aren't out yet. Boots now live in the garage.

Great work Diane, you did well - lovely details and I really like the pose, I suspect you may have toned down the brighter parts of the oak already (?) just wondering if a little more toning down would help.

Hi Diane, would agree with Dan's observations, but would look into also the OOF branch (?) in the BKG which I feel is rather distracting from the beautiful outstretch wing. I'm away so very quickly done, but it gives you the idea if you feel you wish to take the image further and ethics allow. However, if there is only one thing you do, I would tidy the RHS on the trim edge where there is some manipulation creeping back in.

Always curious about metering, why did you opt for Partial metering here?

TFS
Steve

Hi Dianne, a very nice pose from the Vulture. Great wing spread and the HA is nice. Steve's RP has taken this up a notch! Well done.

I am late to comment but when I saw the OP my eye was immediately drawn to the stump below the wing. So I like what Steve has done.
Would like a bit more room all around if you have it.
IQ is excellent,
Gail

Thanks everyone! It does look better with the piece of stump removed -- easy fix. I hadn't noticed the odd thing on the right hand edge but it isn't manipulation -- it's a piece of a pine tree. Easy to remove. Could also do more BG cleanup -- would be easy to mask the well-defined bird.

This is just a little less than FF -- small amount removed on the bottom to simplify the very busy stump a little, and a little off the right. I could add back some on the right and add canvas on top and left.

I repositioned myself to change the BG but that's when the TV decided to turn around.

Forgot to answer about metering -- no, I'm almost always on evaluative, but watch the histogram as closely as time permits to try to keep a reasonable ETTR. The direct but slightly diffused light on this guy was good.

Here's State 2 with the suggestions -- thanks for the push! I think it's greatly improved.

Now that I look at it, I might lop off the piece sticking out of the perch to the left.