An immature Masked Lapwing, just developing the mask and the black head. Legs have yet to go red and the beak to all yellow.
50D, 100-400 @ 400, 1/500, f10, iso250
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An immature Masked Lapwing, just developing the mask and the black head. Legs have yet to go red and the beak to all yellow.
50D, 100-400 @ 400, 1/500, f10, iso250
Interesting bird, minimized rock perch and soft BG are all plusses here. The strong light, its direction and what appears to be sharp focus on the body and not the eye are problematic. You could try a reverse s-curve adjustment to lower contrast and a masked curves adjustment on the face to open up the shadows on the face. Best to always try for better light to create a pleasing look.
Good crit by Robert, which I fully agree with (although I wouldn't touch the blacks as they already seem on the pale side). My first thought when opening the image were in regards to light quality and angle. Some flash at time of capture may have helped with this.
Nice to get images at different age stages...
Thanks for your comments, much appreciated. I have a liking for cross light because it can give some dimension to a bird. I probably overdid the shading so here's a lighter version just to show I can do that too :o
Robert, maybe the eye doesn't look sharp because the iris fades from yellow to black rather than a sharp edge.
Daniel, the blacks look light because they still have the juv brown mixed in them.
