Limpkin

[Jeff Cashdollar]

MKIV +500+1.4
Gitzo 3530LS & Gimbal Head
1/500 - evening light
f/5.6
ISO=640
Manual/AS/AF

James spotted him - Tampa FL.

LRII--->CS4

[Lance Peters]

HI Jeff - cool bird - will reserve my comments for now - lets see what everyone else has to say ;)

[Alfred Forns]

Just a hint Two mayor issues here !!!

[Dave Leroy]

I really like the pose and composition.

I may even try to take a tiny slice off the bottom and perhaps a very slight cw rotation.

This one seems light or pale. I don't think it is the evening light which would usually add a bit of warmer colour.

Jeff, it will be interesting to hear what others have to say because I think this is a real winner.

[David Stephens]

Beautiful bird in nice light.

I'd crop about 20% off the bottom, keeping the other dimensions the same. I'm undecided about the exposure of the head, but think it's just a touch too high in exposure.

[Michael Gerald-Yamasaki]

Jeff,

Greetings. The pose & eye contact are great. Good detail & dof manages the noisy background with the head in a good position. The reflective light off the head washes it out a bit, suggest selective contrast increase, with a bit more tonal separation from background (darken background a bit). White balance seems too cool (middle eyedropper in curves on the right side breast white feathers seems to work). Finally, I'd crop the bottom (til the beak points at the corner more or less) and a bit off the top (below the somewhat yellower line).



An idea... I missed some background that is too light. (I added color management by attaching the profile, so the colors will look more different in the browsers than the actual difference... as always, I recommend attaching the profile).

Cheers,

-Michael-

[Bill Dix]

Hi Jeff. Great bird and pose. Michael hit most of the points I might have made: added contrast on the bird, slight darkening of the bg, white balance. I'm not sure about his suggested crop off the bottom, since it doesn't allow for virtual feet. And I might try another pass of NR on the background. That said, it's a nice image with great potential, mostly realized by the repost.

[Jeff Cashdollar]

Thanks Bill, this is a bird not often seen I am told and wanted to capture it. The evening light was a tad strong so we positioned to get best light angle on the eye - after a few minutes - they were gone.

I love the surrounding habitat, it was beautiful.

When I look at the picture it is exactly what I wanted to convey - I am pleased with it.

[Fabs Forns]

I like the colors in Michael's repost, but prefer the OP composition, the repost chopped the virtual feet and pretty water.

[James Shadle]

I kinda like this crop. What do you think?

[Jeff Cashdollar]

Not bad, every variation is good but I still like the OP.

[Ken Lassman]

Tough lighting coming in from the right side. I think the darker background makes it stand out much better and the cropping is a matter of personal taste...like Capt. Jim's post. Great pose and head angle and nice feather detail