The pose is excellent. Fine placement in the frame. This bird is one of the tougher ones to expose correctly (in my opinion) so I think you've done a fine job. You might be able to lighten the shadows (on the bird) slightly on the right but I'm not sure it needs to be done since I'm viewing this on my laptop. Overall, a nice image. It appears that you had a great outing on the Alafia Banks.
Ann, I booked James Shadle for a one day outing and he took us out of the mouth of the Alafia River into Tampa Bay around some small islands, I had never been to the area before so I cannot say what is available by land but perhaps James could answer that question.
Joel, what a lovely image! I have two suggestions for you.
First, I find my eye dropping to the lower half of the image because it is brighter than the top half. I think it would be worth trying to darken the water in the FG and lighten it in the BG.
I also think you could play with that shadow on his breast area (right below the neck) and blend that area so it's not quite as pronounced and you'd end up with tricking the eye into thinking it was just the plumage and not a shadow.
Beautiful pose and composition. Well done overall!
Hi Joel. I agree with most of the above comments. The pose and composition is great. What's missing for me here is the glossy appearance to the feathers on these birds. I don't know if it was the angle of the light or the particular bird, but it doesn't show on my monitor.
OK OK maybe I was having too much fun, guilty as charged! Chalk it up to rookie enthusiasm....speaking of quitting early, I notice you posted at 1:19 AM !!!
Glossy Ibis
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