A male Tawny Frogmouth (Podargus strigoides) taken this morning 26/10/13 in Elwood at ester creek, 5d mk iii, 580ex ii, 500mk ii, f/4, iso 250, 1/125, fill flash, handheld.. Slight crop.
Hi Merv, good eye contact, and a nice eye level capture. I feel the overall image is a touch too dark, and even though you used fill flash, it hasnt resulted in the correct exposure. I would also tone down the lighter area on the RHS of the BG. A little TLC in pp should bring up the exposure a little better.
In addition to Stuart's keen observations, I would add that not having the beak , the feathers in between his eyes and on his chest in focus really is a deal breaker for me in this one. Sorry, I hate to sound harsh. With your camera, you can easily shoot at a much higher iso and stop down. I would take a stuffed toy outside and practice with this in a controlled situation. It will be time well spent.
I have always admire these unique birds, they do look like our potoos even though they are not related. Nice close up, cool pose, exposure has been mentioned.
Great eye contact from a really cool bird. I agree with Stuart's recommendations, and also with Grace's excellent suggestion. Getting both the eyes and the beak sharp would have taken this image to the next level. You could have easily bumped your ISO to 800 or 1000; That would have enabled you to stop down to f/7.1 or f/8. With a modern DSLR such as the 5D3, my ISO floor is 400 (with rare exceptions).
A male Tawny Frogmouth
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