I captured this image at the alligator breeding pond rookery in Gatorland, Orlando, Florida. Comments and critique welcomed and appreciated. Thank you for viewing.
Nikon D500
Nikon 80-400mm F/4.5-5.6 VRII AF-S ED shot at 400mm
1/2000 F/6.3 Matrix Metering +1/3 EV ISO 900 AWB , camera supported by a monopod
Post processed in Lightroom CC and Photoshop CC 2017
Cropped for theme composition and presentation
Joe Przybyla
"Sometimes I do get to places just as God is ready to have somebody click the shutter"... Ansel Adams
Hi Joe, a perfect shot for the month's theme, as these guys really show up their breeding colours. Im fine with the tight crop, but I would have included all of the beak.
Great image Joe, I love the eye, details and hairdo! I agree with the guys on moving the bird back in the frame to include the beak (maybe use the rule of thirds for the eye and place on the top right intersecting lines and show the whole beak??) Thank you for sharing.
Thanks everyone for viewing, commenting and offering suggestions for improvement. Here is a post of the original image that I cropped tighter to highlight the eye.
Joe Przybyla
"Sometimes I do get to places just as God is ready to have somebody click the shutter"... Ansel Adams
I understand why you chose this crop for the monthly theme. Really highlights the eye very well.
Tack sharp and great BG.
The OP still shows that colorful eye very well and comp seems better balanced with all the bill included.
Gail
Agree with all that Gail said. Ticks all the boxes for me. If this was my image, I would have tried to make eyes brighter and tack sharper. That is just how I like.