Sandhill Crane In Flight

[Filemon Lopez]

Location: Bosque del Apache, New Mexico
Nikon D3
200-400MM
TC 1.4X
ISO 400
1/1250 F/5.6

[Arthur Morris]

Sharp with a good light angle, a good EXP, and a perfect wing position, my favorite: wings full down. Yet the image does not work for me at all. How come???

[Axel Hildebrandt]

Details and wing position are great. the black diagonal area in the back is very distracting. You could also try to lighten the shadows on the neck and remove the sheen from the legs.

[Doug Brown]

Axel nailed this one on the head. Luckily it's an easy fix. I also fixed the light area around the bird's head. Here's a repost. Although I didn't do it, I would consider a tighter crop.

[Tony Whitehead]

Doug's repost deals with the big issues. I would agree re a tighter crop.

[Glen Fox]

Doug,
How did you do what you did with the background (i.e. what PS tools and techniques did you apply). Thanks!
Glen Fox

[david cramer]

Nice image of the crane, and Doug's rework is great. I agree with the tighter crop as there is too much bg to deal with.

[Irena Kapusta]

Nice image

[Doug Brown]

Doug,
How did you do what you did with the background (i.e. what PS tools and techniques did you apply). Thanks!
Glen Fox

I selected the bird and copied it to its own layer. Then I cloned over the offending BG areas on the BG layer underneath the bird layer. I also selected a dark color in the legs and painted over the specular highlights in the legs at about a 30-50% opacity.