Snail Kite

[Joseph Przybyla]

I captured this image along the westerly shore of Lake Parker in Lakeland, Florida. Note the very hooked bill for opening the operculum and extracting Apple Snails. Comments and critique welcomed and appreciated. Thank you for viewing.

Nikon D500
Nikon 500mm PF + Nikon 1.4 III Teleconverter, camera and lens supported by a Oben carbon fiber monopod with a Wimberly MonoGimbal head
1/2500 F/8 Matrix Metering EV 0 ISO 1400 Auto 1 WB, image captured at 700mm (1050mm 35mm Equivalent)
Post processed in Lightroom Classic, Photoshop CC 2022 and Topaz Denoise AI, removed a branch bisecting the body of the bird
Cropped for composition and presentation

[Mike Poole]

Nice portrait Joe, perfect angle to see that hooked bill you mention. I don't know these birds, so your shot may well be accurate, but I think a slightly brighter eye wold be more pleasing, and if it were mine I'd probably try and tone down the yellow background by the breast.

Mike

[Joseph Przybyla]

Nice portrait Joe, perfect angle to see that hooked bill you mention. I don't know these birds, so your shot may well be accurate, but I think a slightly brighter eye wold be more pleasing, and if it were mine I'd probably try and tone down the yellow background by the breast.

Mike

Hi Mike, thank you for viewing, commenting and suggesting improvements. I did some work on the image this morning. Here is a repost.

[Andreas Liedmann]

Hi Joe .. nice portrait of this unique bird .
Looks like two different images were used .... different pose in second image .
Colors look different ... interesting that you processed them in two ways .
I do like the wider view more ... but it does look a bit " strange " from the proportion to me . A minor thing and matter of taste . Nice tones and overall colors ... just think the blues are showing up too much .

Bice one and TFS Andreas

[Joseph Przybyla]

Hi Joe .. nice portrait of this unique bird .
Looks like two different images were used .... different pose in second image .
Colors look different ... interesting that you processed them in two ways .
I do like the wider view more ... but it does look a bit " strange " from the proportion to me . A minor thing and matter of taste . Nice tones and overall colors ... just think the blues are showing up too much .

Bice one and TFS Andreas

Hi Andreas, thank you for viewing and commenting. Same bird just a do over, angle is different because I rotated the bird/image and cropped differently. Interesting that you mentioned the blues, you have done that on a few of my images. I wonder if it is my eyes not seeing it or if it could be the color calibration of our displays. I use Eizo's Color Navigator set to 120 cdm squared, 6500K and 2.2 gamma. I'll try reducing the blue and see what it looks like. Thanks again...

[Mike Poole]

Small changes between the 2 shots, but certainly enough difference to make it worthwhile in my opinion

Mike

[Andreas Liedmann]

Hi Andreas, thank you for viewing and commenting. Same bird just a do over, angle is different because I rotated the bird/image and cropped differently. Interesting that you mentioned the blues, you have done that on a few of my images. I wonder if it is my eyes not seeing it or if it could be the color calibration of our displays. I use Eizo's Color Navigator set to 120 cdm squared, 6500K and 2.2 gamma. I'll try reducing the blue and see what it looks like. Thanks again...

Hi Joe ... thank you for coming back . I thought it was the same bird but a different frame because of the overall tilt .
Regarding the blues ... for sure there is a difference in monitor settings and monitor it self . Mine is set to 120cmd, 5500 k and 1,8 gamma as I am on Mac . So on your screen the image will show up even cooler .....
Regardless of the settings ... if I get the impression the i.e. blues/cyan are showing up too strong I check with the eye dropper the color values .
But in the end we just simply might feel and see color differently .... personal taste and preference .
In this case .... I think specially the beak is " way too blue " . Just my take .

cheers Andreas

[Jonathan Ashton]

Very nice indeed Joe, I like the processing. Just curious - why did you decide to omit the feet and legs was it because it was a messy perch?

[Joseph Przybyla]

Very nice indeed Joe, I like the processing. Just curious - why did you decide to omit the feet and legs was it because it was a messy perch?

Hi Jon, thank you for viewing and commenting. I have images showing the full length of the bird, like this one. I was sitting on the ground, when the bird would look away I would creep forward capture a few images and repeat. I moved close enough to isolate the upper part of the bird, being closer improved the background and detail in the feathers, eye and bill.

[Andreas Liedmann]

Hey Joe ... just get the impression you are doing some serious manipulation
and think according to the rules of this forum , we are asked to " declare " them in the intro .

[Joseph Przybyla]

Hey Joe ... just get the impression you are doing some serious manipulation
and think according to the rules of this forum , we are asked to " declare " them in the intro .

Hi Andreas, I don't think rotating and cropping an image is serious manipulation, kind of like leveling the horizon. I did say that I removed a branch bisecting the body. The background is smoother because I was much closer with a shallower depth of field than the image I posted to show Jon the full bird. I kept moving closer scooting along the ground until I could pretty much fill the frame with the portrait as shown. Also Topaz Denoise AI removes noise wonderfully smoothing the background while preserving the feather detail on the bird.

P.S. The repost of the image in response to Mike Poole did reflect suggestions he made in his comments on the image.

[Andreas Liedmann]

Hi Andreas, I don't think rotating and cropping an image is serious manipulation, kind of like leveling the horizon. I did say that I removed a branch bisecting the body. The background is smoother because I was much closer with a shallower depth of field than the image I posted to show Jon the full bird. I kept moving closer scooting along the ground until I could pretty much fill the frame with the portrait as shown. Also Topaz Denoise AI removes noise wonderfully smoothing the background while preserving the feather detail on the bird.

P.S. The repost of the image in response to Mike Poole did reflect suggestions he made in his comments on the image.

Hi Joe i am really sorry for my comment , I was just too quick with typing without thinking .... for sure is rotating and cropping not a serious manipulation and NR is a normal edit .
I just did not get the content of your reply to Jon's comment correctly ...

Mea culpa Joe

[Dorian Anderson]

Sweet portrait, Joe. I've seen this bird many times while birding but never managed any decent shots of it. I actually like the vertical crop better. It shows the details better and the background lines are more vertical. You did a nice tone-down job on the yellow as Mike suggested, and I'd consider trying a vertical crop which has that correction. Wise move to go headshot given the crappy perch. I do that all the time.

[Joseph Przybyla]

Sweet portrait, Joe. I've seen this bird many times while birding but never managed any decent shots of it. I actually like the vertical crop better. It shows the details better and the background lines are more vertical. You did a nice tone-down job on the yellow as Mike suggested, and I'd consider trying a vertical crop which has that correction. Wise move to go headshot given the crappy perch. I do that all the time.

Thanks Dorian, I can do that.

BTW... How's Africa?