I captured this image in late November last year at Circle B Bar Reserve in Polk County, 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 image captured at 400mm
1/2000 F/8 Matrix Metering EV +1/3 ISO 900 AWB, camera supported by a monopod
Post processed in Lightroom Classic CC and Photoshop CC 2018
Cropped for composition and presentation
Joe Przybyla
"Sometimes I do get to places just as God is ready to have somebody click the shutter"... Ansel Adams
I like the eye clarity, composition, BG, open beak and view through the nostrils. Just a little head turn towards us would have been nice but that would be getting a bit greedy. Very well done Joe!
beautiful details on this one. Have to love those tame Florida Sandhill Cranes! I agree with Jim that the image would be stronger if the head was turned a few degrees towards us as opposed to away from us. Also something seems funny about the background, specifically the area below and to the left of the beak. Did you do something to that? I would expect that with the bird being so close that you would have more separation between the bird and background and a more pleasing blur to it. Or was this bird just really close to a tree line?
Boy, you must have been pretty close Joe. A really nice portrait IMHO with excellent detail and tonal range, all set off by an uncluttered background that provides good separation for the bird. Nice one.