Goshawk

[Loi Nguyen]

Image taken at the entrance of Amboseli National Park on my first day of safari. I wish I had asked our guide to move across the road to get a little closer to the bird. Cropped about 40% of FF.

1DX
500f4 II
1/1600
f5.6
ISO-800
Handheld
Overcast day
Slightly under-exposed, so had to up exposure by 0.5EV in LR5.

It's a beautiful bird, so I'd like to share.

Thank you

Loi

[Bill Dix]

Yes, he's a beautiful bird indeed. And a great pose, perch and background. I could imagine a little less perch on the left, to move the bird out of the center. Whether the crop or the exposure adjustment, it does seem just a little crunchy.

[Grace Scalzo]

Beautiful bird, background, and rock! IQ seems very slightly degraded from the crop, but not much....really a nice image and I think that Bill's suggestion would only make it stronger.

[Minh Insixiangmy]

awesome Loi, i would agree. just a bit less room on the left would provide better balance

[Minh Insixiangmy]

awesome Loi, i would agree. just a bit less room on the left would provide better balance

[Loi Nguyen]

Hi Everyone, I agreed with Bill regarding the "crunchy look." I tried to reduce contrast and less sharpening here in the RP, but the crunchy looks is still there. This is one of the reasons why I hesitated to post this image in the first place.

Took a wee bit of the left and top as suggested. I had tried vertical crop, but decided against it, because the BG is a strong part of this image.

Thanks for your comments.

Loi

[christopher galeski]

nice capture,repost looks better.

[Sanjeev Aurangabadkar]

Hi Loi, love this frame. Agree with the crunchy look but well this is still a keeper. You could have slapped on the 1.4X to get closer as you had the SS. But I know how it is on a safari. Cheers & TFS

[gail bisson]

Hi Loi,
I think this is one of your best shots.
The IQ looks good to my eye.
The BG is perfect and I like the rock he is perched on.
Repost is very nice.
Congrats on a lovely image,
Gail

[Stu Bowie]

Hi Loi, great pose from the Goshawk, and I actually like the rock perch. Killer smooth BG. You really nailed your repost.

[Carl Walker]

Hi Loi - I agree the BG does play a big part here. The RP is good and the rocky perch adds to the scene here. It doesn't seem too crunchy to me and I think there is good detail here. Enjoy the fluffed up feathers on the forehead which adds to the HA IMO.TFS

[Richard Flack]

Lovely repost Loi. Great capture of a beautiful bird.

[shane shacaluga]

RP is great. Lovely Gos and awesome BG!

a vertical crop may also work with this one.

[Petros Petrou]

It may be a big crop but it still is a very cool image. The repost is even better. IQ looks very good and I like the perch and the nice, clean and soft BG.

[Andre Pretorius]

Loi, the RP looks tons better. The BG is a killer. If I might suggest to selectively sharpen the eye and darken the stones a bit, it would prevent the eye from wondering...

[Loi Nguyen]

Thank you folks, much appreciated. I'm glad that I decided to post after all. Loi

[Greg Oakley]

Sweet image Loi - great pose, perch and killer BG!

[Satish Ranadive]

Superb image. Beautiful pose, BG and wonderful composition.

Regards,
Satish.

[vishaljadhav]

Wonderful image Loi, the details are fantastic and lovely BG
i love the perch , nice one

[Iain Barker]

Really like the repost. Super background. Well done Loi this is a great image.