Killdeer

[Ben Harris]

D60 | 70-300VR | Hand Held | Manual Exp
300mm | f/5.6 | 1/320th | ISO 200

This was taken in the same feedlot as the Razorback photo in the wildlife critique forum.

I think there was a nest somewhere, but I searched for 15 mins and couldn't find it. Plus she wasn't doing her broken-wing dance, so maybe the chicks were already hatched and gone.

Anyhow, this is cropped to about 50% of the frame. The background was smoothed due to horribly ugly bokeh that this lens produces when used with green backgrounds with lots of dynamic range.

[Meesh Fink]

The killdeer looks sharp and I like how she is looking into the frame and toward the camera.

The image seems to have a brownish cast and could perhaps use some brightening.

[Bob Decker]

Looks like a nice, sharp image of the bird. In this case, however, I think a tighter crop is in order. The subject is very small in the frame and easily lost in the surrounding environment. I know we all hate to give up resolution with tight crops, but sometimes it's just what we have to do.

[Lance Peters]

Hi - Agree with Bob - bird is just a little small in the frame - but if this is 50% already cropping more might reduce the IQ to a unacceptable level. need to try and work your way closer if possible - Patience is goin gto be the key!!
Like the catchlight in the eye - might try setting a black and white point in PP.

[Dave Mills]

Hi Ben the bird is sharp with good detail. It does look small in the frame(tough with a 300 getting close enough to this type of bird) and minimalizes the birds impact. I would take some off the top...

[Alfred Forns]

Hi Ben For small in frame subjects place closer to the corner and will look better !! Excellent comments !!