Hi Stuart, hard to get an exposure when you have sun and shade together in a shot but this one turned out pretty good. Not sure if the crop works for me, but a stunning shot nonetheless.
Nice BKGR and fairly sharp, but many problems as noted above. In addition, the bird's head is turned away from you. See the "Head Angle Police" thread in Educational Resources.
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Hey Stuart,
Not much I can add....but offer this for you to try.........scroll with the browser (browser crop).....until you crop off the legs, using the bottom edge of your monitor, to just below the protruding feather.......this eliminates most of the uneven light as recommended above (which I agree with)........but also shows you the difference that it would make to the image. These small things often make a huge difference. Add the back curve of the neck and the better head angle..........you go from ordinary....to extraordinary. These things are just pointed out to help you and others improve as quickly as possible. Take the above advice and learn from it......this will only make you a better photographer faster!
Difficult light conditions to deal with. I have to agree about the composition. It needs more room or more cropping but I would love to see the whole bird in the frame because that feathers looks really interesting and nice.