Red-Capped (Japanese) Crane

[Joerg Rockenberger]

This image was taken in mid-February in Hokkaido, Japan.

Thanks for looking. JR

Canon 30D, 70-200F4IS at 116mm, 1/2500s, F6.3, ISO-200, Manual Exposure, handheld

[Randy Stout]

JR:

He must have been really close!

I like the wing position, head angle and the dangling feet.

Exposure looks good, nice background.

Wish there was a bit more life in the eye, but I don't know this bird, and this may be as good as it gets for them!

Thanks for posting

Randy

[David DesRochers]

Beautiful bird and great wing position. I suggest cropping off some of the area in front and below the subject. The whites are a bit hot and the darks could use a bit more exposure. The eye could be more visible. Try selecting the eye and adding a curves layer to lighten it up. A touch of saturation will also help. I also see a bit of a halo along the edges.

Dave

[AJ Kunkel]

Nice BG and pose. Nice light, but I am surprised that with this light the head dose not present better.
Very nice BIF!

[Ramon M. Casares]

The whites look almost too white for me, but the pose, exposure, colors, detail and comp are great! Congratualtions!

[Jasper Doest]

Wow you were close....I really like it that you were able to use this shorter focallenght as it makes the sky come out very well. I agree with the comments about the exposure.

[Joerg Rockenberger]

Thank you for taking the time to comment. Regarding the whites, in adjusting levels I made sure that none of the individual rgb channels got clipped. So, the whites should be ok. But they surely look bright.

Anyway, exposing for these birds was one of the biggest challenges I've encountered so far. Good practice though.

JR