harsh light really popped the colors here, no saturation added. do I desaturate? processed in DPP and PS, did dodge eye slightly.
1/2000 @f6.3 iso 400 1dx 500mm f4
Hello Ann, Beautiful colors in this image. To my eye, they look fine for a spoonbill in breeding plumage. The image is nice and sharp through out and the background is not distracting. A few points that could have helped give this image more impact would have been if the bird was angled toward the viewer and the head not in shadow. The flat wing position isn't most people's favorite. Are there any more in your series that might offer this?
The quality of the light here is fine. It's the light angle that caused problems. Best if possible is to have the sun coming over the top of your head with your shadow pointing right at the subject. Wind has a big role to play in being able to do that. Here the sun was from your right, coming from behind the birds.
Try adding 50-80 points of CYAN to the REDs in Selective Color. It will do wonders for them.
Yes to what Grace said about the bird angling away. In addition, the pancake wing positions almost always leave a lot to be desired; they work well only when the bird is flying quite a bit towards you. Wings fully up or fully down are usually to be preferred.
Where was this image created?
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Thanks for your comments. Image was taken at Merritt Island mid December and I was shooting away despite the sun bc I was then heading to MCO for flight home... There were plenty of waders but little, very little ducks at that time.
Hey Ann:
A beautiful spoon you have here, Nice focus and exposure, The background is pleasing, You have good feedback above, I know its so hard to not shoot a spoon when they fly at close range, a better wing position would really improve the shot.