The harder I work the luckier I get

[Diane Miller]

Several Mourning Doves have become regulars at our food trough. Although I have a lot of pictures of them on this perch, I have a nervous trigger finger and was shooting anything that moved. A woodpecker landed just off stage right and this was the result, just as I clicked the shutter. (Wasn't even on burst mode.) In the original frame the top of the wing and bottom of the tail are exactly at the edge of the frame, so I added canvas. Also got lucky that this was apparently the exact moment of pause before the downstroke, as my fairly low SS froze the action so the head and underside of the wing are amazingly sharp. (I was focused on the eyes and the rest just fell into place.)

Canon 5D3, 600 II, Wimberley II, ISO 1600, 1/400 at f/11. Morning fog. Basic minimal LR processing; into PS to remove a piece of the woodpecker and do a small amount of detail extractor, masked off the BG. No NR or sharpening except the LR defaults.

[Dave Spates]

I agree that there is some killer detail in both wings, overall looks great

[Jeannean Ryman]

Great techs on this Diane. Perfect timing too. Nicely done!

[Alan Murphy]

One of the best bird images i have seen in a while. Just beautiful.

[Sanjeev Aurangabadkar]

This is a sweet image, I like the stretched wings, the eye contact and superb detail. Well captured Dianne.

[christopher galeski]

Excellent image Dianne,sharp with beautiful details,nice stretched wings pose,loverly BG and perch,well done,its a winner.

[shane shacaluga]

This is great, love the amount of detail on the underwing and tail feathers!

BG is super as well

TFS!

[Bill Dix]

Sweet. Love the soft tones and color palette, and the perfect body angle and wing position. Luck is what you make it.

[Geoffrey Montagu]

Diane!!!!




Geoffrey

[Lorant Voros]

I really like when a common bird gets captured in a special way. You just did that here; beautiful pose, nice composition with the squarish crop, great BG and perch. Well done.

[gail bisson]

This is a beautiful image.
I think it is especially nice because it shows a common bird in a spectacular pose and a great Bg.
Congrats and I wish I had this one in my files,
Gail

[Daniel Cadieux]

You`ve outdone yourself here Diane! Great processing job to salvage the composition, but you had a terrific file to work on to begin with. I cannot think of a better Mourning Dove image...congrats!!

[Binu John]

Outstanding image, Diane! Excellent processing, composition and exposure! Well done!

[Karl Egressy]

Wow, this is just beautiful, Diane. It is one of our favorite bird species. They nested in a hanging basket at our porch ones.

[Diane Miller]

Wow -- thanks so much, everyone!! Very much appreciated! I feel very lazy to not be venturing much beyond my deck for birds, lately, but they and I have settled into a cozy relationship. Word gets around, as we now have a ground squirrel trying to get in on the action.

[Grace Scalzo]

Luck favors the prepared! Love this one, Diane. My new favorite of yours.

[Sandy Witvoet]

Spectacular image of a (sometimes) under appreciated bird! Really love it, Diane!

[mohammad reza shahab]

Excellent stretched wings pose,composition and very nice BG.

[David Salem]

Love the title. So true!! Your best offering so far. Great frame Diane.