This one has been in my 'nearly' pile for quite a while. This is a pile of shots that are nearly (but not quite) there and which I cannot bring myself to delete. Sadly, it's quite a large pile and I've been trying to prune it which is when I came across this one. The background is not good, the foot and wingtip behind the rock are worse and it's a bit tight in the frame. But I love those wing feathers and (just noticed this today) the claw sticking out between them. Whaddya think?
1DS Mark ii + 400 mm DO + 1.4TC. Aperture Priority, - 1/3 ec. ISO 800. F/5.6 @ 1/1250 sec. Very nearly full frame.
Hi Sean,
I actually like the image and capture the wing stretch and the raised foot makes it for me. You have very sharp details and good color rendition. the head angle and eye contact are good. the background does not bother me at all. what catches my eye is the oof rock in the foreground its ashame, because this would have been a killer capture if it wasn't for that; perhaps if you would have moved to the left or right of the bird; I don't know; perhaps it would have presented better...:cool:
Sean, I think it's very good-I love the foot coming thru the wing- The wings are gorgeous. If this were mine I would add a little canvas to the L side and take a very slight bit off bottom-This is a really unique shot I like it alot!
Hi Sean, I think it is a great shot with so much detail in the wing feathers. Definitley not in the 'nearly' pile for me. I like the slight crop off the bottom.
Gotta remember that those rules are meant to be broken sometimes and this image looks like one of those times. There is so much here that is wonderful: sharpness of body, wing and tail, the action of the spread wing with the feather straightening toe showing, bg (I like it). I think it is at least a keeper, and probably better than that. It is a very well done bird behavior image.
Gail
Thanks for the kind comments. Sorry to have posted and run like that. Work got insanely busy all of a sudden.
Actually, if my failing memory serves correctly, I came across this chap mid-stretch and immediately fired off this shot. These are flighty birds that rarely cease to move. Much to my surprise, instead of beating a hasty retreat, the little chap stayed put and I was able to move into a better position (from which I took the preening grey wagtail shot which was one of my first posts to this forum) but by then the stretch had finished.
LOL @ Uncle Gus. I know, I tend to err the other way with the whole canvas thing. In fact, I did crop just a fraction off the left. There was an unsightly vertical black band that needed to be got rid of. Here's another go with a tad of canvas to the left (I found it really difficult to get this looking natural), some cropped off the bottom. It was beginning to look a little too much like a pano then for my tastes so I've taken some off the RHS too. Not ideal, I know but the best compromise I could come up with.
Grey wagtail - Wing Stretch
