theme-flaring snow goose

[Bob Smith]

This was taken on the Fraser R. delta last March during the northward spring migration to Wrangell Is. in the Arctic Ocean north of Siberia. 7DII,EF 100-400 f/4.5-5.6 IS @ 200mm, ISO200, f/6.3, 1/2000, HH

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[Isaac Grant]

Nice spread wings. Makes the bird look quite impressive. I like the curled primaries as well. You really get the feel of how big these birds are from this shot. I wish the sun was lower in the sky so you did not have such strong shadows below. Looks like the whites at the base of the top of the neck is too hot. Don't see any details there. Head angle is also not ideal but I recognize that is subjective. Background could use a round of noise reduction. If mine I would clone out the twigs at the bottom left.

[Bob Smith]

Thanks for the pointers Isaac. The "Recover" slider did indeed help that hotspot at the base of the neck. I thought originally about cloning out the twigs but decided to leave them in for environmental context but I guess they were too small to accomplish that and the removal was an improvement. I didn't see the noise but there was indeed an improvement after NR w/ Topaz DeNoise5, albeit small.

[Isaac Grant]

Repost is much better to my eye. Those small changes make a big difference overall. Foliage is of course up to you.