Taking off from Estero Lagoon

Canon EOS-1D Mark II
Shutter speed: 1/5000 sec
Aperture: 8
Exposure mode: Av
Exposure compensation: -1
Flash: Off
Metering mode: Center-weighted average
ISO: 400
Lens: 600mm
Focal length: 840mm

This is my 6th or 7th posting, did I do something incorrect or piss someone off that of 88 views no comments? C&C always welcome, its the only way to learn from the best.

thanks,

todd

I like the photo but I thought that the lighting was harsh (it looked to me like direct sun 11AM or 4PM). Also, your photo looked a little grainy, perhaps from a lot of crop, higher ASA, or because of the -1EV compensation.

Todd:

It is weird sometimes how the views don't lead to comments, even on nice pictures. Depends on who is doing the looking! I have gotten some pretty high view counts also before getting a comment, so don't take it personally.
I like your birds position and wing spread, nice detail under the wings. There are some hot areas along the leading edge of the wing, where its white, but minor.

There is some smudging or artifacts along the wing edge, esp. noticeable by the neck and above the alula.

Did you need to do some NR ?

Open bill a plus.

The small splash is important as and anchor, otherwise it is very hard to tell how the bird is oriented in relationship to water or sky.

Cheers

Randy

thanks for the comments. Trying to learn from the comments. It is amazing how you guys can pick out the touchup and imperfections. There were some funky dark areas in the spots you commented on so I tried get rid of the them.

Strange amount of noise for ISO 400. Was this underexposed and recovered in post ?

Lou