Limpkin Preening

[Troy Lim]

Shot taken yesterday. Got a warning for parking in a private community but it was worth it to get the shot. :)
Hope you like it.

Camera Nikon D3S
Exposure 0.002 sec (1/640)
Aperture f/6.7
Focal Length 1000 mm
ISO Speed 400
Exposure Bias 0 EV
Flash On, Return detected -2EV

[Arthur Morris]

Pose is stunning as is the spread tail but as I have been preaching here repeatedly the head angle is less than ideal for a preening image.... At the risk of boring folks (as well as those who have studied ABP II religiously), the plane of the face and the bill with preening images needs to be perfectly parallel to the imaging sensor. This is a great example of a dramatic and beautiful image that would never win a contest that I was judging, and would likely not do well in any top flight competition. Once most of the elements are in place you simply need to watch for and pray for the right head angle.

Folks who think my comments harsh or not might wish to check out the quite interesting thread here.

[Thanaboon Jearkjirm]

Love the low angle, the nice room for virtual feet, the sharpness and details. The clean background help me focus more on the preening action of the bird. HA does seem a bit off, but I still like this image anyway. TFS

[Troy Lim]

Artie,

I agree the HA is a bit off. It is work in progress. HA was in my mind when I shot this series. I am working on it.

Pose is stunning as is the spread tail but as I have been preaching here repeatedly the head angle is less than ideal for a preening image.... At the risk of boring folks (as well as those who have studied ABP II religiously), the plane of the face and the bill with preening images needs to be perfectly parallel to the imaging sensor. This is a great example of a dramatic and beautiful image that would never win a contest that I was judging, and would likely not do well in any top flight competition. Once most of the elements are in place you simply need to watch for and pray for the right head angle.

Folks who think my comments harsh or not might wish to check out the quite interesting thread here.

[Kaustubh Deshpande]

Troy, agree with Artie. You did quite well on all the other fronts. Loved the pose and the shooting angle. excellent smooth BG. I think, one round of sharpening on the bird will improve it quite a bit.

[Mark Young]

Nice bg, I think the browner colour of it looks great with the browner colour of the bird.