Common Kestrel l Portrait

[Varun Bellie]

Equipment : Canon 40D, Canon 300mm f/4 L IS USM + Canon 1.4x Extender

Specs: iso :400, Aperture : f/6.3, Shutter Speed : 1/640sec, EC= -0.3, Center Weighted Metering

Location : Bangalore, India

[Axel Hildebrandt]

I like the look-back pose, angle and BG. I might sharpen a little less, it caused slight halos and might lower the color temperature a tad, but I'm sure you know best what it looked like. I would also remove that bright spot at the beak.

[Jim Crosswell]

Great eye contact and BG. I would also remove the bright spot on the beak. Very well done!

[Arthur Morris]

Varun, Killer use of d-o-f and a great bird. It needs a bit off of the bottom--a bit less than 1/2 of the space there now. Though I do no see the halos it looks a tad oversharpened....

All in all, stunning. Perfect head angle, loverly BKGR.

[Aidan Briggs]

Great light, eye contact, and perch. I agree that it would look better with more room on the top and less on the bottom.

[Kurt Bowman]

Beautiful Varun! I agree with the nits already mentiuoned, but love the image. The bg and color on this are especially nice.

[Arthur Morris]

Beautiful Varun! I agree with the nits already mentiuoned, but love the image. The bg and color on this are especially nice.

Hey Kurt, I discourage the use of the word "nits" here on BPN as the connotation is negative :)

Below is a more extensive quote from here: http://www.birdphotographers.net/for...ad.php?t=42327

Here is a typical definition:

nit·pick·ing (ntpkng) n. Minute, trivial, unnecessary, and unjustified criticism or faultfinding.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition copyright ©2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company.

While at times some of our suggestions might pertain to minute details, in very, very few instances would they qualify as trivial, unnecessary, or unjustified. When folks state, "Nits already covered," they are implying that the suggestions that were made above were trivial, needless, and unwarranted. Nothing could be further from the truth; someone has simply taken the time to help the poster improve their images. To refer to those efforts as unnecessary or unjustified is insulting. And if folks refer to their own efforts as nit-picking ("This may be nit-picking but...") then they are insulting their own efforts.

There are lots of options that do not carry any negative connotations. Among them are "suggestions," "suggestions for improvement," or "option" (an option might be to clone out the rock). "You might have considered doing this...." or I wish that ...." also work well. Instead of saying, "This might be nit-picking,' you might try "This is a minor point..."

I am asking that each of you refrain from using "nit-picking" (or any of the related forms of the word) in your posts.

Folks have been doing great lately so thanks a ton to all! :)

[Jim Donato]

Excellent image Varun! I agree with the previous recommendations. The bird looks a bit centered in the vertical plane as mentioned. The exposure was pretty well executed. Beautiful image.

[Harshad Barve]

Excellent image Varun , Lovely pose and killer BG , nice suggations by Guruji here
TFS