I captured this image yesterday at Ft. DeSoto County Park in Pinellas County, Florida. Comments and critique welcomed and appreciated. Thank you for viewing.
Nikon D500
Nikon 500mm PF, camera and lens supported by a Oben carbon fiber monopod with a Wimberly MonoGimbal head
1/5000 F/8 Matrix Metering EV 0 ISO 1400 Auto 1 WB, image captured at 500mm (750mm 35mm Equivalent)
Post processed in Lightroom Classic, Photoshop CC 2022 and Topaz Denoise AI
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
This pose is great! You captured an interesting wing position with no shadows, and the view of the landing gear is a really nice touch, not to mention the splash. Eye contact is spot on as well. The sun looks to be up a bit here since it's not a super warm image, but the lighting is generally very nice.
All that said, the entire image looks the slightest bit plastic. This is most noticeable on the splash and the feet. I don't know how much NR you applied, but it might be worth revisiting the work flow to see if you smoothed detail unnecessarily.
Looks great to me. The classic pelican take-off shot. Love that the head is in the clear. And of course, those feet.
with love, a
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