This photo of the local femals was taken a couple of weeks ago at the local Golf Course. This bird is the smallest of our Raptors.
I was hoping to get some ideas on composition. I wasn't sure how to crop this. I was toying with either this sort of crop or a tighter crop that focused a little more on the face of the bird.
Canon 400, 300mm L + 1.4TC, F5.6, 1/1000, ISO 200,
PP: Cropped approx 30%, Levels, SH adjust. NR and blur on bg, Sat increased on bg. USM.
H Mark With birds on these kind of perches we just try minimizing the perch as you did. Would probably crop some form the right and just a bit from the left.
If possible would move around to work for a background. Light was coming from the right so would have moved in that direction and hoped the bird would have turned a bit .. they usually do.
Processing wise would increase the mid tone contrast a bit !! Lovely bird !!!
Hi Mark
I agree with Alfred about taking some off the right and left. I gave it a try to see what that looked like, and then took a tad off the top and cleaned up the perch.
Lovely composition, beautiful exposure, perfect sharpening.
Very nice
Cheers
Gail
Hi Mark - lots to like here - agree the perch is not the best but sometimes you gotta take what you are given.
Gails repost with the mid tone boost is on the money - IMHO.
Great suggestions from AL!!
Hi Mark, I like how Gail cropped the image. It added strength to your center of interest. Agree with Al regarding finding a more muted backround...if possible!
Lovely bird. Gail beat me to it; her repost is nicely composed and shows off the bird nicely. Looks sharp and well exposed. BG looks like it had possibilities, but I find the whites a bit distracting. Don't know if it's possible to tone them down.
Gail, I really like your repost. I think it gets rid of most of the distracting white bg that Bill mentioned.
Alfred/Dave, I have one of this bird with an almost uniform green bg. Unfortunately I must've taken the image right as the a gust of wind was blowing because the bird looks like it's got a bit of a beer-gut! It's funny but not what I would post.
Nankeen Kestrel
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