Hi Bob,
Interesting preening pose. What makes it work for me is that you can still clearly see the eye. The image appears sharp with good detail. The colors also look good to me. I did debated if the color bands in the background were distracting or not but, came to the decision that I like them. I wish the light had been coming more from behind you as this would have lightened the underside of the wing and lessoned the strong shadow line on the birds neck. You mentioned that you cropped the image. It might be worth considering adding a some room back on the bottom If you have it, as for my taste it seems a little tight.
Thanks for sharing.
Neat pose, and well-captured. Agree about the bright whites, e.g. on the thighs and throat. Would be nice to darken and blur the yellow bg object (? plant stem) above the L.wing. Like the overall sharpness of the bird.
Much thanks for the feedback on this shot. It was processed in about three minutes in a hurry. I agree the hot whites need to be toned down and would normally fix that before presenting an image in this arena. Perhaps the greatest lesson I've learned from feedback at BPN is concern for a better crop. I like the crop of this shot. I would have been lower to the ground under better circumstances. What I've gathered from observing images here and with lack of criticism, it's apparent that the subject is allowed lower within the image possibly giving the illusion of the subject closer than it really is. As far as the sun behind me, yes, that was constantly on my mind. My position was best for observation of incoming birds from their roosts.
Last edited by Bob Pelkey; 05-02-2010 at 11:37 PM.
Reason: spelling