Hi, I thought I would share this portrait of a scarlet macaw.I love natural black backgrounds with dappled natural light for rainforest subjects so when I noticed this fellow in the sun with a shaded background, I was excited. I know the lighting might not be to everyone's taste so I'll be interested to read comments/suggestions.
Tech: Canon 40D, Canon 300 mm f2.8, 1.4x, ISO 640, f5.6, 1/1000, handheld, manual mode to underexpose by about 3 stops, full-frame, upped the blacks a bit in Lightroom, and that's it
The colors look very dramatic, details and eye contact look good. I would give it more space at the top. What I find problematic is that the beak seems separated from the rest of the head.
A real sense of mystery with this one. Very evocative. I do agree with Axel and Doug about the floating beak issue. I did minor tweak, which I don't think detracts from the power of your image, but makes the face a bit more complete.
I like the idea behind the image for a dramatic look but its not working for me. Would like to see a smoother transition to the D-Max area and a lighter face for the bird
Settings wise since you are going for the dark look might have made it wide open to lower the ISO since dof is not an issue !! Do like the selected crop and trying something different !!!!
Hi Greg: I like the mood of this shot very much. I am not bothered at all with the beak issue raised above. The dark parts of the face fit in very well with the rest of the image. I know the beak is connected and don't need the light there to make me see it. Clearly this is an art image, not a standard "portrait' image. I like it. Maybe a little more room at the top, but I can easily see this framed as is and working very well with a mat around the image. I'm chuckling to myself about you having to shoot this in manual to get to -3.... Thx Canon!
The repost is a big improvement and while the lighting is dramatic and different, the fact that the back of the bird and the wing coverts are more brightly lit than the bird's face is too much to overcome....
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