Sunning Cormorant

[Jeni Williams]

Try this one.:o
Canon 40D 300f/4 with 1,4xF/5.6
exp: 1/1000sec
metering mode : partial
Exp. comp -0.33

[Jackie Schuknecht]

Very nice, I like the comp and colours. Might lighten the right wing feathers and the right body/foot area. And darken the perch. I think it is a great pic. BTW will the HA police come and get you? I haven't been convicted yet. ( Not to sure what is correct, parallel or looking towards you is what I am assuming):)
Also like the BG.

[Nicki Gwynn Jones]

Hi Jeni,
Yes, I fear that the HAP may well be winging their way to you as we speak...:eek::eek:
Jackie, you are correct in thinking that the ideal HA is one in which the bird's head has more of a turn towards you. Parallel is OK but towards you is better. It is really all about making an emotional connection with the bird, usually through eye contact, as with people.
Jeni, I like the image a lot although the lighting looks a little harsh. If you could lighten the area around the bird's eye and darken the perch it would help a lot. Agree with Jackie that the BG is lovely!
Hope this helps!
Regards,
Nicki
PS I'm standing by with bail money should you need it...:D

[Gus Cobos]

Hi Jeni,
I like your composition. Its a shame that you got blessed with harsh light. You need to keep the sun on your back; this will elimanate the shadows for the most part. The head angle is just boarder line, almost there. The perch can be darkened a bit...Reminder, before squeezing the trigger; compose in camera, look at whats in the background and most important, watch the angle of the sun...:):cool:

[Lance Peters]

Hi - the BG is great, like the pose as well, tone down some of the hotspots on the perch with a mulitply/linear burn layer.
Think the HAP will have you.

According to Artie (If I am not wrong) the perfect HA is 2-3 degrees towards the film plane. Jeni and Jackie - if you dont have it already Arties "The art of Bird Photography" has all the explantions. Also you will find some info in the Educational Resources forum.

:)

[Alfred Forns]

............... forget the bail money since we are going for twenty lashes on this one Jeni :eek: :D:)

Actually it is not all that bad, the bird is doing a behavior (drying wings) and looking at something out of the frame.

Jackie head angle wise its simple to figure out. The idea is to have a bird "not looking away" and being parallel with just a little angle toward the film plane. It looks more attractive and will have the eyeball/bill tip in the same plane. A bird perfectly parallel to the film plane with the focus on the eye can not have the bill tip within the dof (most of the time) So having those couple of degrees will place both in the the same plane.

In this image what bothers me the most is the sun angle, the bird is not evenly lit. Do like the pose and complementing bg It is an appealing image !!!!

[Desmond Chan]

............... forget the bail money since we are going for twenty lashes on this one Jeni :eek: :D:)

Poor Jeni.

Love the details in the wings.

[Oscar Zangroniz]

Very nice background Jeni, also very sharp and nice pose. Do agree with previous comments regarding the perch

[Jeni Williams]

Hah a fine bunch of naturalists you lot are!!! Those "hot" spots" are only hot if they land on you!! ;) (Here in S.A we call them "poop" spots.)
Trouble is I find it very difficult to get the bird to look at me (seriously now!) and to change angle when it's sitting in the middle of a river near a bridge. No way that I could get in front any more than I was and if I went around to the other side of the river I was looking into the sun. ( Gus , sun was almost behind me maybe slightly to the rt. Couldn't move cos I would have been in the river). I really liked the pose because it's what the bird is renown for.
What I really want to know is if the exposure was right for the dark bird? Thant is what I am practicing - whites and blacks.

Thanks guys.:)