Black winged stilt (Himantopus himantopus)

[Juan Aragonés]

This is an almost full frame image, I croped just a bit from the right and from the top to improve the position of the bird in the frame. Cloned out a couple of small dark and out of focus spots in front of the bird. Processing here is very limited, just a touch of levels adjustment to improve the slight flatness of the original file, atouch of saturation and my usual preparation for web presentation.
I decided to go for a very open composition and to include a lot of empty space to increase the feeling of cold and quiet. Perhaps the image seems to be made on a cold day of winter but, in fact, was made in the middle of the summer, a day with a strong overcasting sky.
Comments and critics are highly apreciated :)

Nikon D300 AFS Nikkor 500VR+1,4XTC handholded from car, manual exposure, ISO640, f8 1/640s VR on

[Randy Stout]

Juan:
Elegant bird, nice composition with strong sense of solitude.

Wish I could see a bit more detail in the blacks.

Because of the stark background, I find the printing on the image distracting, esp. the red

Cheers

Randy

[Axel Hildebrandt]

I like the high key approach, composition and reflection and agree that the red signature is a bit distracting.

[Arthur Morris]

Loverly high key image. At least the red letters match the legs :) Fill flash would likely have given this one a lot more pop.

[Tony Whitehead]

I admit to being a fan of high key images and I like this one, Juan. I like the pose and the placement in the frame with plenty of negative space. I might consider slightly warming the whites on the bird.

[Raymond Barlow]

brilliant image buddy, different, and very artistic.

[denise ippolito]

Juan, I love the high key look and the reflection is great. Very nice looking image!

[arash_hazeghi]

Beautiful image with excellent exposure, the redness of the eye still visible despite challenging condition.

[Juan Aragonés]

Thanks for the suggestions about this image. BTW, you are right about the color of the signature, it is a bit intense. I will take this into consideration for future images :)