Spotted Thick - Knee

[Gabriela Plesea]

Dearest Friends,

I have not many avian images in my folders but I found one that fits this month's Theme here in the Avian Forum. This is a Spotted Thick-Knee, formerly known as "Dikkop" here in South Africa. Image captured in the Kalahari earlier this year. This bird allowed me to get close so I managed a couple of frames as some nice light was filtering through the undergrowth he was hiding in. I quite liked the pose and HA. This is almost FF, processed in LR and PSCC.

Nikon D5
Nikon 500mm F4
ISO 800
F6.3
1/3000s

Thank you kindly for viewing, I appreciate it.

[gail bisson]

The IQ is superb!
Good comp and nice BG with a bit of variation in color.
DOF is good at F6.3.
Sun is a bit high as suggested by the shadow on the eye but it doesn't hurt the image and the whites look good.
Very nice! You should post to Avian more often!
Gail

[David Salem]

Gail covered everything I would have so the only suggestion I will repeat is "you should post in avian more often" Well done Gabriela

[Steve Kaluski]

Nice portrait Gabriela, but as an option I feel you could loose some off the foot? Lovely colour palette.

Question, did you darken the eye, the beak is bright, yet the eye is far 'deeper' in tone, but both are on the same plane f focus.

[Gabriela Plesea]

Thank you so much dear Gail, David and Steve,

I will certainly look for some avian images and try contribute more often:)

Steve, I decided to do another curve adjustment before posting in order to add some extra punch - I left the beak out. If too obvious then I will go back and change it, let me know what you think. Did you notice a tad of posterisation in the BG, it wasn't obvious on the big screen last night but I see it this morning on my laptop. And will take some off the bottom, thank you. Another thing, does that little feather near the beak not bother you, I am so tempted to take it out!

Warmest regards,

[Steve Kaluski]

Did you notice a tad of posterisation in the BG, it wasn't obvious on the big screen last night but I see it this morning on my laptop

Yes, but did not mention it, however if you have time then I would try to address it. Regarding the eye/beak I might mask and go say 50% Opacity, by making an adjustment layer you can hone the opacity to suit. The crop is just a thought so no worries. As you had plenty of ISO you could have upped the DoF as the head is angled

Another thing, does that little feather near the beak not bother you, I am so tempted to take it out!

Your call, it wouldn't harm the shot.

[Jonathan Ashton]

A fine shot Gabriela, I have seen thick knees in The Gambia, I assume this is something very similar. Lovely details now it has been mentioned the eye does look a little too god to be true compared to the bill, but I have to admit it did not occur to me until I read the posts.

[Gabriela Plesea]

Thank you so much Steve and Jon,

Steve, kindly have a look at my RP if you have a moment, WDYT? Re-cropped and tried to sort out beak and eye issue, as well as posterisation. Hope this meets your approval

Warmest regards,

[keith mitchell]

Sorry to be late on this Gabriela,interesting to read the comments above and the points raised,colour and feather detail is excellent and I can see a lot of difference on the repost that looks very good especially the eye,think I would be tempted to remove that little feather but hey! it's not a big deal .

Keith.

[Gabriela Plesea]

Thanks so much Keith!

About the little feather...I will probably remove it at some stage, right now I think it's quite funny

Warmest regards,

[Daniel Cadieux]

Excellent details, and quite a beautiful background! I like the vertical comp. I too had not noticed the bill / eye difference, the repost nicely addresses that.

[Joseph Przybyla]

Beautiful bird I am not familiar with. Lovely colors with a complimenting background, good feather detail. I prefer the repost that addresses suggestions in the comments. Thank you for sharing.

[Arthur Morris]

I like 'em both. You did a good job with the sun relatively high and that deep set eye.
with love, artie

[Gabriela Plesea]

Thank you so much dear Daniel, Joseph, and Sir Arthur!

Extremely kind of you to view as well as comment, much appreciated.

Warmest regards,

[Glenn Conlan]

Well done Gabriela, such great detail love the feather coloration

[Gabriela Plesea]

Much appreciated Glenn, thank you

Kind regards,