The STK has one 'drum stick' in its beak, saving the rest for the chick. The lighting on the chick is completely natural and makes the chick, I believe, the focus of interest.
Nikon De, 500mm + 1.4TC, f6.3 @ 1/2500, ISO 800
Comments appreciated.
Thanks for the helpful comments which caused me to go back and rework the image. When I switched to CS4, I plugged in the Shadow/Highlights that EJ had recommended a couple of versions ago. When I use 1% or either Shadow or Highlight, the image turns very bright.
As for the questions, many times the male will eat portions of the prey, making a quite disgusting meal. in this image, he has only taken one leg. It is about a 60% crop.
Hugh
Last edited by Hugh J McLaughlin; 06-29-2009 at 03:54 PM.
Reason: Image Change
Hi Hugh, is this a large crop? I ask this as you've got great DOF.
I like the natural moment captured here, nice pose, detail and overal exposure but I would suggest to tone down the whites in the head and also a little more USM could help. Congratulations!
Good wing position and eye contact. Is this unlucky chick food for their young? I agree on sharpening a bit more. Why are the whites that are not sunlit so green, is it the reflection of foliage or grass? I might desaturate the sky a few points.
I like seeing the chick clearly and the slight head turn Interesting the shape of the chicks by the time they came to the nest? Most were half eaten !!! Excellent capture Hugh !!!
As I first suspected, these chicks that he's been bringing back are Rock Doves. They have fairly large feet and thick bills when they are young. See the image at http://www.speedpigeon.com/7-Day_Old...ing_pigeon.jpg. I love how you can see the detials on the chick.
Hugh, I think it still has a lot of cyan to it.
I tried Color balance, +37 red, -21 blue, then Selective color -54 black on the whites.
Any improvement?
Very good pose and action, I remember the wing was for Momma :)
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