Backlit ring bill

[Gene Herzberg]

Taken at a local pond while waiting (unsuccessfully) for one or more of the eurasian wigeons to come close enough for photos.

Sony alpha 700, sigma 500 f4.5, at f 6.3, 1/320, +0.7 exposure. From the car window with a beanbag.

Gene

[Bruce Gove]

That's a beautiful image Gene!!! you nailed the exposure, the sharpness is really nice and the comp works for me.. A little fill flash would have made this even better. Nice job!!

Bruce

[Alfred Forns]

Love the bg Gene !!! I like how you got almost the entire bird in shade, just the little light on the head. Full sun would have killed the image.

Would have framed differently with the eye more to the right. I'm drawn to the left side of the image and sure would be nice some space up front !!! PS wise might want to make the whites a bit brighter !!! Love the prominent eye and overall sharpness !!!!'

Just made a quick change to the crop and made the whites brighter

[Bruce Gove]

Just some little changes make a big difference. I wondered after I posted this if the whites couldn't be nicer, but never saw the crop change - nice Al !! What do you think Gene??

Bruce

[Gene Herzberg]

Thanks Alfred: I really like your crop better. I went back into lightroom and cropped the original in the same way, also made the whites whiter with a curve adjustment. Thanks again.

Gene

[Alfred Forns]

Hi Gene I should have mentioned I masked the yellow bg and the brighter whites then did a levels adjustment moving the right hand slider to the left. The the small curves adjustment.

I think the bg was under full sun but the bird in the shade which is fine !!!

[Oscar Zangroniz]

Great Image Gene. I could go either ways; your original, or Al's version. Very sharp image
Congrats,