Female Merlin

[Dan Brown]

I got real lucky a few months ago and found this beauty on a fence at dawn! I was able to drive my hybrid (quiet) car almost right up to her! This is about 30% crop,(not sure if I like the comp?) PP'ed with NX2 and CS3, NR and sharpening with Noiseware Pro, a little selective sharpening with NIK. C&C welcome.

Camera Model: NIKON D300, handheld
Shutter speed: 1/250 sec
Aperture: 8
Exposure mode: Manual
Flash: Off
Metering mode: Multi-segment
ISO: 800
Lens: 80-400mm f/4.5-5.6
Focal length: 400mm
Focal length: 600mm (in 35mm film)
VR Image Stabilization: On
AF mode: AF-C

[arash_hazeghi]

very nice Dan, pose, details and light are great, only wish for a better perch, I am actually surprised he picked this one, they usually prefer small perches

[Tom Rambaut]

Very nice, love this species. The perch does not bother me.

[Carel v/d Sanden]

A pretty clear picture of a merlin.
sharpness and beautiful colors.
the seat does not bother me.

[John Guastella]

Beautiful bird, excellent detail and exposure. The perch does seem a bit out-of-proportion to the bird. Suppose you cropped a bit from the bottom to remove some of the perch and a bit from the left to move the perch out of the center of the frame? This would de-emphasize the perch and would also give the bird more space to look into (since it is looking to the viewer's right).

John

[Todd Frost]

Nice pose, exposure and detail Dan. Post not the ideal perch, but it is what it is. Well done.
TFS
Todd

[Kiran Poonacha]

Beautiful image, nice pose and details.. nicely done..