The soft light really gives this one a nice feel. Sharp, with great detail in the feathers, and the transillumination of the crest is nice. Background is soft as well.
I would like just a touch more space to the left.
Good job handholding that rig in the low light.
Sounds like you have been having lots of fun, this is good.
Love the picture, colors, subjects and background.
Agree with more space in front, I imagine there was something in front that you did not want to include in the frame. I also like the shallow DOF, but also wonder how this will look with a smaller aperture to render the whole beak sharper.
fabs that image is great.no cluttered background truly a great image as you avoid all those cluttered backgrounds.of branches and twigs.wish i was there next to you reg stuart
I liked the vertical orientation for this and don't mind the space in front of him. Going more to the right would have meant very close to the chest feathers. And I liked including the leg to ground him. It was 7AM and there was very little light, so I'm hand holding 300mm at ISO 800 with a s/s of 320, no room for more DOF, that I'd have liked. I guess I could add some in front if I ignore the ratio.
I agree with the others comments about a bit more to the left (easy fix), but I think one click more DOF would be a nice touch too. It's killer as is, though, for sure.