My First Post-Lapped Faced Vulture

[Rohan Kamath]

Hi Guys,
This is my first image on this forum. I've just joined and am pretty clueless so please bear with me.
I've only just started photography last month even though i've been birding since I was a little kid.
I would really appreciate help on how to improve and learn.
Thanks so much.

This image was shot in kenya on my first trip abroad last month.

EOS Canon 40D
Sigma 70-300mm shot at 263mm
f/8
ISO-250
1/1000 sec
-2/3EC
Aperture Priority
Spot Metering

[Axel Hildebrandt]

Welcome to BPN, Rohan! Nice first post, I like the eye contact and this is a bird I haven't seen many images of. I would crop a bit off the top and sharpen the bird more.

I fixed your post. Make sure to link to the image location only by right-clicking on the image > copy image location instead of linking to your facebook site.

Keep them coming!

[Rohan Kamath]

Thanks a lot sir. Will surely remember that next time.

[Manos Papadomanolakis]

Welcome to BPN!
agree for a bit crop to the top.otherwise beautiful pose/eye contact!

[Bill Foxworthy]

Welcome Rohan and looks like a day for Vultures. I like the pose and natural habitat. A better crop although not really necessary would probably help. Thanks for letting me see another new bird today!

[Kiran Poonacha]

Welcome Bro..nice to see your here.. lovely image..great HA and light on this..

a little more sharpening required and redoing the crop would help.

[Jim Neiger]

Very nice capture. I agree with the others as to crop and selective sharpening of the bird. I would also suggest a larger size image (up to the 1024 pixel limit) would be better.

[Sabyasachi Patra]

Rohan,
Welcome to BPN!

A nice first post. I like the eye contact. I would have loved some more space at the right. It would have gone well with the flowing branches. A little bit lower saturation would be nice as well.

Cheers,
Sabyasachi

[Rohan Kamath]

Firstly thank you all for the very warm welcome. The kind words and suggestions have been very encouraging.
I'm re-posting the same image with a little part of the top cropped and some sharpening. This the first time i've used photoshop for anything except brightness/contrast so please do correct me if i've gone wrong here...
Appreciate the help.
Thanks a lot.

[Jim Neiger]

You certainly improved the image, but I don't think you went quite far enough with the USM. I used the SH tool on the bird and foliage to add a little punch and boosted the sharpening a little.

[Hugh J McLaughlin]

Jim's repost is a great improvement on an otherwise nice first post. Welcome.

[Ramon M. Casares]

Jim's repost is my favorite, lovely light, species and detail.
Congratulations and welcome.

[Rohan Kamath]

Thanks Jim...its really looks much better now...

[Dr.Pranay Rao Juvvadi]

Jim's version has greatly improved the image. Great light. A bigger image would have been better.

[sree.kumar.h]

Nice captured Rohan. Jim's re-post has improved the image a lot. A good learning.