Buff-throated partridge, Sichuan, China

[Craig Brelsford]

A buff-throated partridge eyes the camera nervously at 4,200 m (13,775 ft.) on the Tibetan Plateau in Sichuan, China. At that altitude, most trees don't reach the height of a man; it was therefore possible to track a covey of six until they were comfortable enough with me to allow a closer approach.

Device: Nikon D300
Lens: VR 600mm F/4G
Focal length: 600mm
VR: ON
Aperture: F/4
Shutter Speed: 1/320s
Exposure Mode: Aperture Priority
Exposure Comp.: 0EV
Metering: Center-Weighted
ISO Sensitivity: ISO 250

[Axel Hildebrandt]

Great find and I like the look-back pose and sharpness. The bright piece of wood left of the bird competes with the subject, I could see it as a vertical crop, too. If it were mine, I might remove the yellowish grass sticking out of the head. Thanks for sharing!

[Nico Steenberg]

Great sharpness. Like the DOF. Subject is well exposed with good natural colours. Well done !

[Fabs Forns]

Impressive found and thanks for sharing it here. Agree with Axel's critique, darkening the prominent piece of wood will help keep the eyes on the subject.

[Arthur Morris]

A killer bird that nobody here has seen but you. I started typing what Axel typed hours ago but hit the wrong key and lost everything :) You did a great job of choosing the best perspective but the setting was against you.

You might try adding about 4 points of BLACK to the BLACKs and the NEUTRALs in Selective Color as the image is lacking punch.

[Craig Brelsford]

Here's a re-post. The grass over the head has been removed. That was easy. More difficult was working with the bright areas on the fallen log. I was cloning in darker shades, but the result looked very artificial. I don't understand what Arthur was saying about "4 points of BLACK."

[Arthur Morris]

Good job on the grasses. The light ares look better and not really phony. Lightening the darker areas would be the next step. Best advice: get back out there and find one in a better setting!

[Craig Brelsford]

Best advice: get back out there and find one in a better setting!

Right! That's precisely how I feel. I'm already planning my next trip to Sichuan, gamebird capital of the world.