Preening Cormi

[Ian Cassell]

Canon 7D
Canon EF400mm f/5.6L
1/1000 sec f/11 ISO 800 HH

Crop, S/H, Sharpening in CS5
NR in Noiseware Pro

[Randy Stout]

Ian:

An effective preening pose, well exposed. I like the separation of the feathers in this pose.
Perhaps a sliver more room at top, although the curved neck/angle reduces the need somewhat.
Some subtle halos showing along the darker area of the wing/background interface, esp. on the upper medial aspect of his right wing. Pretty minor.

Cheers

Randy

[Arthur Morris]

Interesting pose. Way too tight in the frame for me. Good head angle. Light on the very harsh side. Darkening the pupil would make the image look sharper.

[Ian Cassell]

Thanks, folks. Artie, what constitutes 'too tight'? I wrestle with that.

[Stephen Stephen]

Hi Ian. I love the pose but also find the image tight in the frame. I know that you asked Artie but for me when I'm considering "tightness" I ask myself "Would the animal be comfortable in a physical box of this size?" In your example this cormorant would likely "hit its head" on the virtual roof of the frame.

I'm not sure of my explanation will help but perhaps it might make sense to you.

[Ian Cassell]

Actually, Stephen, that makes perfect sense. I've always tried to give a flying bird room to fly into. I'd never given much consideration to the framing of a stationary bird. I like your approach. Thanks. I'd be interested in hearing from others.

[Ákos Lumnitzer]

I like Stephens crop approach, I never think about it that way, but I would definitely go for a looser framing option. The S/H is very obvious to me here. Nice image and you can definitely do better in more suitable lighting as well. Thanks for sharing. :)