Hunkered down on a cold windy morning - GBH at Little Estero

[Randy Stout]

This fellow was taken several years ago during one of Artie's workshops at Little Estero, Ft. Meyers Beach. It was pretty cold, very windy, and this fellow was really tucked in tight.

D700 600VR f/6.3 1/400s ISO 500. Better beamer with SB900.

Post: Cleaned up the flash catchlight, selective sharpening, full frame.

I thought the background colors worked well with his coloration, and flash gave him a bit of pop on a dreary day.

Advice and comments always appreciated.

Cheers

Randy

[Karl Egressy]

I really like the pose captured, Randy.

[Joseph Przybyla]

Lovely image, appears like the bird was cold also. Flash is an animal I have yet to approach, your image shows the advantage in certain saturations. Thank you for sharing.

[Randy Stout]

Joe:

Flash can easily be overdone, but it can be invaluable when lighting conditions would otherwise result in flat,boring pictures. After all, photography is all about the light!

Cheers

Randy

[stuart wanuck]

nice think he looks cold

[christopher galeski]

nice image,the bird gives you the sense of coldness,agree the water color goes well with the bird,nice detail and light.

[gail bisson]

I can feel the cold wind looking at this image.
Love the BG water color and your very subtle use of flash,
Gail

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi Randy, like the stance and the slight windswept look to the chest plumage, but personally I feel the image looks a bit 'thin', slightly washed out in tonal depth/colour???

BTW did you amend you set-up for web, has it helped???

TFS
Steve

[Randy Stout]

Thanks everyone for the comments.

Steve - interesting observation, I will revisit it a bit about the color. It def. has a somewhat limited color palette, which is one of the things that appealed to me, but I will tinker with it.
Yes, I did change my Save for Web settings per your rec.

Cheers


Randy

PS:

Here is a tweaked version, a bit overboard perhaps, but def. a bit more 'punchy'

[Jim Crosswell]

I like the pose, wind effect and details. Nice image Randy.