The Dismount ( Black-necked stilts)

[gail bisson]

Taken in April, 2014 in Florida.
Canon 1dx 600mm
ISO 800 SS 1/2500 F 8
Cropped to 50% , used DPP 4, then off to CS5 for levels, blurred a sharp edge on one of the grasses in the BG and cloned a spot in the water at the bottom of frame,
lifted shadows on the male's wing and DE at 2% to birds then USM to JPEG.
Comments and critiques always appreciated and learned from with thanks,
Gail
Hmmm, now that I see this posted I think I forgot to do NR on the BG

[Karl Egressy]

Nice for- and background, not really needed NR. Nice pose of both. The female looks so pretty. Great work, Gail.

[Daniel Cadieux]

Pretty neat! I love the male's angled and bent legs (plus its foot on the female's back). Good light and colours. Even though it is in the shade I'd still be tempted to pull up the red in that eye (but not too much!!). I see you mentioned it yourself, so I won't point out the noise in the BG...

[arash_hazeghi]

excellent interaction and processing, love the red eye. everything looks good to me, but the BG can use a bit NR

TFS

[Marina Scarr]

Love the painterly feel to the FG & BG, Gail. You did a great job capturing the actual moment of transfer here which is depicted by the male's slanted posture. Really well done!

[Stu Bowie]

Hi Gail, well timed for the moment, and well exposed on both the whites and blacks. Love the eyes on these guys, and I do like the colourful BG too. Having said that, I can see a version in a traditional landscape crop - that would show up more of those colours in your BG.

[Grace Scalzo]

Great subjects and action. I would like more room at the bottom for the virtual legs, which would also make this a stronger vertical composition. Personal taste, of course.

[Lorant Voros]

Very well exposed and nice interaction. The eyes are super nice and intense with the reds. BG needs some more noise reduction. Well done.

[Satish Ranadive]

Excellent image, Gail.
Spectacular moment captured. Wonderful colours, great details and very nice composition.

Regards,
Satish.

[William Dickson]

Another beautiful image Gail. The control of the blacks and whites is first class. I like the pose, POV and the expressions on the birds face is priceless. Great work.

Will

[Bill Dix]

Terrific interaction captured. Nicely exposed in blacks and whites, with excellent PP work to fine-tune it. Gorgeous BG. I'm not seeing much noise but a touch of NR would top it off, as others have suggested. I'm with Grace on the crop.

[gail bisson]

Thank you all for your helpful comments.
Stu- I couldn't do a landscape because there was an OOF short-billed dowitcher on the right that I evicted with this crop.
Grace and Bill- I have about 3% more canvas on the bottom but this would force me to include the reflection of the wingtip which was not very pleasing to the eye. I could clone it out though without too much problem.
Gail

[Marina Scarr]

I really don't feel as though you need more of the virtual legs/feet here, Gail. This image is about the behavior and you sure have plenty of it.