Cormorant Portrait

[Garry Gibson]

I know this is a shot that has been done many times
but I did want to work on it and see if I could at least
do a passable job.
I am unsure about the green in the background but
I just left it.

This is on the Anhinga Trail

Mark1 DSII
70-200 F4
200 MM
ISO 400
f11
1/500

Cropped to vertical, no noise reduction
added vibrance and sharped with FM sharpening plugin

[Thanaboon Jearkjirm]

You have sharp image with excellent details here, to me this image is more than a passable job. I don't mind at all about the green on the upper right, in fact I wish the lower part of the background wouldn't be so uniformly blue, it kind of look like a studio background, but that could be only be me.

[Lance Peters]

hi Garry - techs look solid - You have a good HA and eye contact and sharp details.
Think the green in the upper top corner is a little distracting and unbalances the image - does draw my eye and give it a top heavy feeling.
For my personal tastes would give a little more room up front.
Looking forward to seeing more.

[Katie Rupp]

I think I agree with Lance on the green, Garry. Cormorants are one of my favorites and you did him proud!

[Julie Kenward]

Hi Gary...I'm back and forth on the green. I like how it frames the bird's head but it does make the image feel a bit top heavy. Lovely details in the bird itself - I like that he has a "dirty" mouth and that eye is stunning! Great catchlight!

[arash_hazeghi]

Excellent portrait,very sharp and well exposed with a nice BG, I would crop from the top.

[Garry Gibson]

Thanks for all the great and helpful comments. Arash I think you're right
I was just trying to avoid a square box, but maybe I can take off
part of the green and not make it be so dominant.

again thanks
GG