What a wingspread! The continuity of the out of focus flower field behind the bird filling the frame does it for me. Would not be the same if it were broken by a horizon.
You'll have to excuse my crummy PhotoShop work to add canvas to the bottom, this is just an example :D I really like the pose and action that you captured as well. I think the composition could be changed to improve this image. Adding some canvas, and cropping from the top gives your subject a little more room to land. I also brightened your subject a tad because I felt that it was a bit dark. I hope you don't mind the repost :)
Love those drumsticks and the feet are amazing! I like Blake's repost but would also add a little more room to the top as well. Nice Ps work Blake. To disguise even further you can use the clone tool to remove some of the obvious elements of duplication.
Thank you very much for your comments. I did some rework moving the bird a bit higher in the frame as you suggested and I have slightly increased brightness.
Love the bird and the pose. The last re-post is better but I would go brighter still with the bird. SH/H should work well here. The trick is to lighten first and then increase the midone contrast to avoid the muddy look.
Lastly, I could do with the in-focus flowers just behind the bird's head. That's an easy job for a QM.
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