After seeing the recent enhanced silhouette blog post I applied the lesson learned to an image captured in SE Iowa along the Des Moines River just before dawn. Nikon D300 80-400VR @400 f8 1/640th ISO 800 ACR & PE8. Cropped image. Used soft light blend mode. Wild bald eagle making a treetop landing at dawn... (first image post at bpn for me) Thanks for looking.
I'm not a big fan of silhouettes, but this one is awesome. The colors pose and composition are all outstanding. Size of the bird in the frame is just perfect, and there is no doubt what the bird is. Very well done! Welcome to BPN!
Thanks for the welcome and comments Randy, Jim and Grace.
Randy: I too thought the angle of the upswept wings were a nice complement to the natural diagonal lines flowing from the main tree branches up toward the light colored upper left corner of the frame.
I am from SE Iowa not far from Ottumwa Iowa in the Des Moines River Valley. Nice to learn of you Iowa connections.
Jim: Thanks for the comments. This was my first attempt at an enhanced silhouette. While I have never shot a lot of silhouettes, I can see that in some early morning or late evening situations it can offer some shooting opportunities when broad daylight captures are no longer possible. I was glad to learn the tips from AM's blog.
Grace: Thanks for the comments Grace. Good eye. You are right about the gradient change of colors here. I look forward to sharing other eagle captures as I get familiar with the BPN site.