Black Oystercatcher

[Jim Craig]

Nikon D300, Nikon 300mm/F4 @TC-17E2
1/320 sec F/6.7 ISO 800
Is a slight CCW rotation warranted here, or left as is to give the feeling of forwrd motion which is what he was doing?

[Axel Hildebrandt]

I like the pose and head angle. There is a S/H halo around the bird and the colors seem to be a bit off on my monitor. I wouldn't rotate it.

[Paul Ricciardi]

Agree with Axel. Composed well, nice feather detail and eye contact. Definitely a halo around the bird and the red of the bill/eye ring are too "hot." Still a nice capture

[Jim Craig]

Thankyou Alex and Paul for the critiques. I should have noticed the halo. Thanks to layers in P/P though I was able to go back and identify the halo culprit as my careless use of the Shadow/Highlight filter in P/S. I desaturated the red in the beak and eye and hope this second version looks a little better. Thanks again.

[Axel Hildebrandt]

Yes, the repost is a big improvement. To avoid those halos it is a good idea to apply curves in your RAW converter.