Another spoony

[Stuart Hill]

Another image from a trip with James S. The background I couldn't do a lot with but like the detail in the neck feathers. Roughly 15% cropped.

D300 Sigma 500 4.5
F6.3 at 1/1600s (much more detail @6.3 on the sig.)
iso 200
Tripod low in the water.

regards.
Stu.

[Randy Stout]

Stuart:

Really excellent texture in the neck, good eye contact, I liked the toes of the tucked foot just sticking out, excellent head angle, good color in the lores.

Looks like it was a fairly windy day.

I would consider toning down the luminosity of the upper BG just a bit more.

Cheers

Randy

[Roman Kurywczak]

Hey Stuart,
I think Randy gave you some excellent advice on dakening the brighter areas in the BG .....just a bit to keep the focus on the spoonie. Great angle and excellent pose......but I come ot expect that from a trip out with James!

[Tom Redd]

Stuart, beautiful photo. I agree with your assessment of the BG and I agree with Randy and Roman on darkening the light spots. I like the low perspective.

[Troy Lim]

Do you have more room on the left? The bird is looking to the left side of the frame, yet it has more room on the right. Just feel a bit unbalance.
Love the eye level shot. Did you shoot these on the left side of the bank?
I just went out there today, they are already so pink...TFS.

[Sidharth Kodikal]

Stuart, gorgeous specimen, beautiful details and pose. I like Randy's suggestion.
I would also evict the bit of pink creeping into the right side of the frame.
Very nice image. TFS.

[Daniel Cadieux]

Troy, the bird is pointing right, right? I think the comp is well balanced as is. I agree with toning down the yellowish area above, but would also completely eliminate some of the smaller independant ones, especially the 4-5 ones in front of the bill.

Great low angle, and I like the soft feel to the light despite it being seemingly bright out there. The leg anchored in the valley between two wavelets is top-notch.

[Troy Lim]

Troy, the bird is pointing right, right? I think the comp is well balanced as is. I agree with toning down the yellowish area above, but would also completely eliminate some of the smaller independant ones, especially the 4-5 ones in front of the bill.

Great low angle, and I like the soft feel to the light despite it being seemingly bright out there. The leg anchored in the valley between two wavelets is top-notch.

Because the bird's eye was looking to the left even the beak was pointing to the right, I personally would add just a tad room on the left. Just a preference. Still learning about composition, maybe this is where I'm wrong.

[Stuart Hill]

Thanks for the feedback. Worked on the background a little. Overlayed a background green to clear gradient to back off those elements to bright and used a layer mask to reveal the bird.

For the bill spot I used a feathered selection from a clear part of background and again a layer mask.

Finally I separated the image and blurred the background slightly to knock it back further. Again using a layer mask to reveal the bird.

(I used separation so as to keep realistic noise in the now blurred background. Its a d300, not a d700!)

Troy, thanks for your input. It's all personal preference so no real right or wrong.

Regards.
Stu.

[Tom Redd]

Stuart, the repost looks very nice.