THEME: rock ptarmigan hen

[annmpacheco]

Hope you like the square crop. I took this on the last morning of our Iceland trip along with Gail B. We were crammed in a small car and shooting out the window when we came upon this female who was too close for me so i took this head shot. It was drizzling a bit which explains both the rain near the head as well as the raindrops on her feathers. BG is a farm field with assorted wildflowers that lend these colors. The eye reflection shows just how small the car was! (Hey Will, this one's for you!)


1Dx
840mm

ISO 1250
5.6
1/640

[Isaac Grant]

Now that's a beauty of a bird I would love to see. Love everything about this one including the crop.

[Colin Driscoll]

Great pose and lighting along with a sweet background. And you just managed to squeeze it into the DOF. Nicely done.

[gail bisson]

Gorgeous portrait! Love the square comp (I always like a square comp when it suits) and the IQ and near perfect head turn.
I could see a version with the water drops cloned out,
Gail

[Arthur Morris]

Another pretty much perfect image with another suitable crop.

with love, artie

[William Dickson]

Aww thanks for that Ann I would give you 10 of my Red Grouse, just for one of these....Fab looking bird and you captured it perfectly. Love the feather detail, pose and BG. Do these ptarmigan turn white in winter, like ours do in Scotland, I suppose they will. A white ptarmigan in the snow on Cairngorm would be my dream image.

Well done

Will

[John Mack]

The crop works very well. Details are very nice. Really like the two toned background here.

[annmpacheco]

Aww thanks for that Ann I would give you 10 of my Red Grouse, just for one of these....Fab looking bird and you captured it perfectly. Love the feather detail, pose and BG. Do these ptarmigan turn white in winter, like ours do in Scotland, I suppose they will. A white ptarmigan in the snow on Cairngorm would be my dream image.

Well done

Will

Hi Will, i think we can do an even "trade!" yes, they also turn all white in winter less the red, my dream bird to capture in the snow as well! While in Iceland she was also walking in the field and bout six of her chicks would run ahead then run back for her cover. No clean shots as the grasses and wildflowers refuse to cooperate. Looking forward to finding ptarmigan again this summer when i return.

[Geoffrey Montagu]

Like this portrait a lot, Ann. Nice feather detail, and sharp eye as well. Lovely background.

Geoffrey




http://500px.com/geoffreymontagu

[Dorian Anderson]

Excellent, ptarmigans are so money and this shot shows her beautifully! These birds are hard to find but usually cooperative once you do. Detail is outstanding. I might be tempted to clone the raindrops behind the out as there aren't enough of them in the frame to make the rain part of the story.

[Mike Poole]

Spot on portrait Ann, great details. I do agree with Dorian though that there aren't enough raindrops, so on this occasion I too would have cloned them out

Mike