Female Woody

My first post and I've got my work cut out for me.... awesome group of photogs here. I chose a pretty tough subject to get close enough too this morning... her mate wouldn't cooperate at all. :-) Pretty heavy crop with some twigs cloned out and minor adjustments in PS. Thanks for any suggestions and comments.

50D, 300F4+1.4TC
1/1600@F6.3 ISO400

http://i221.photobucket.com/albums/d...malewoodyf.jpg

I'm not one to say much about PP as I need alot of help myself but I think you could had went into the shadows and Highlights and worked on the shadows a bit

You are absolutely right James. Thanks for pointing that out. Shows some artifacs now... will have to smooth them out.

http://i221.photobucket.com/albums/d...lewoodyf-1.jpg

Hi Bob. Nice image of a female Wood Duck. The main thing this image is crying out for is eye contact. Images from below are hard to begin with but you can sometimes get away with it if you have strong eye contact. Do you have any others with the hen looking at you?

Bob:

A nice looking female woody.

John has hit on several of the big points.

Head angle, it needs to be turned back towards us
Angle of inclination, looking up at birds, although natural, usually doesn't play as well for the viewer.

The repost has a pretty significant halo induced by your adjustments.

Keep them coming! Maybe the male will perform for you next time.

Cheers

Randy

I wish I did John.... this was the only shot I was able to get. There's always tomorrow. :-)
Thanks John, Bob

And Randy.

Extra points for posting here Bob! Well done. As mentioned, not an ideal bird pose, high above you and not quite the good eye contact so detrimental to capture the viewer. Still, you are on the right track and there a lot of fantastic photographers here to help guide your way! Thanks for sharing. :) Practice makes you better!