Copied from Avian: Head and wing

I had a marvelous few days at Bonaventure Island recently. Here's an out of the box crop but I think it belongs in this forum. I'm trying to push myself out of my own box and cropping is such a powerful, "natural" (i.e., darkroom) way to experiment. Out of the camera I was almost there but cropped at the right to remove any vestige of the wing and feet there.

As always interested in people's opinions, including "hate it"!

Canon EOS 50D, 70-200mm f4 L IS at 144mm
capture date: Friday, July 10, 2009 11:30:50 AM
exposure program: Manual
ISO speed: 400
shutter speed: 1/2000
aperture: f8.0
exposure bias: +0.0
metering: Pattern
light source: Auto
flash: ON - flash extender, can't remember comp and can't find it in EXIF data; probably no comp.

John, "Love It" BUT would like a bit more shoulder and wing to let me feel that the bird can fly. Bob
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beautiful wing position,composition and sweet pose!

Hi John,
I did look at your image for a while, but I am not sure, if the composition works for me. May be, I have to look at it for ten minutes more....
Exposure is phantastic, but I think, that wasn't your question.... :)
Will tell you, when I made up my mind...
Best regards,
rose

i like the crop as is. gives the bird a sense that it is peeking into the frame. definitely out of the box and well done!!

Very nicely composed, John, different and very pretty. All the techs are spotless and very well presented, congratulations!

a very different but brilliant crop, love it John

The crop works very well, the curve and location of the wing combined with the angle of the head make it very effective, nice work.

Boy you musy have been close! The exposure, colours and sharpness are all so well done that I suspect one of several crops would look excellent. This one works fine for me and brings a lot of attention to the eye. Very well done. Dave

I love the Techs here, I may add 20% more of shoulder portion
Harshad

I definately don't hate it, at all, but I will need some time... I'll come back tomorrow, I promess.
Congratulations tohugh as the exposure, colors, detail and sharpness is stunning!

Way to go, John....sharp, colors right on...

Mate, this image is a "push" for you and a "reach" for the bird. I think it is perfect like catching one reaching stroke. Wouldn't change anything!!

I like the comp as presented.
Have you thought of flipping it to have the bird on the left?

I like the comp as it, the intense look of the eye is wonderful and sharp.

Well, I am back :) I have to say that I love the sharpness, light, colors, and detail, but the wing position is the one thing that I'm not that crazy about, it doesn't feel like a flight image, don't know, just my thoughts... I think that a better wing position wolud've made this crop work better for me.

This is a wonderful tight comp! Congrats!

Many thanks for all the great comments. Of course the idea of the image was to present the head of the gannet cradled in the wing- a very unorthodox crop, which essentially ignored the fact that the bird was flying at the time. It was fun and I'm going to try something like this again!

Interesting question from Dave Barnes- Dave do you think it would make a difference to flip the image? Are images "handed"?

John, This is a unique crop that really works!! I love the details. This is one of the birds on my wish list!!

I love the image, the colours, detail, and especially the crop. Personally I would have liked it to have seen it stayed in Avian.