This frame had a lot going for it but I clipped a wing. Rather than deleting the image, I went with a tight crop to accentuate the detail in the bird and fish. Does this work for you???
Canon 1D Mark IV, 500mm, f/5.6, 1/1600, ISO 640, manual exposure, hand held
Last edited by Doug Brown; 06-06-2011 at 07:55 AM.
It works for me, partly because the lighting is really highlighting the central portion of the bird and fish, with the wings less so. Plus, the extra detail you can see this way compensates for the loss of the wings. Often the head is so small in a full body shot, that you can't appreciate the detail. Really shows the powerful talons well.
Like the angle in the frame, working the diagonal, BG.
The cut wings is not the problem of this image IMO. Lack of eye contact is a greater problem IMO. The fact that there is no eye contact with the bird forces my eyes to look for eye contact with the fish which is not in such great shape...
Although technically excellent this image doesn't work for me.
I suppose that it depends on your purpose for the image. I just deleted a bunch last night that had fish remnants in them, I personally just don't care for that. Technically tho, there is plenty of interest here. Am I seeing a bit of purple cast?
Works for me, Doug. I like the diagonal position of the bird in the frame, and don't mind the looking-up pose or the clipped wings. Detail and exposure generally great (although the head looks maybe a tiny bit softer than the area of the talons - maybe a touch more USM there?) Fish adds a touch of color, although I might wish it weren't quite so gruesome. Green channel in the whites is only 8-10 points less than the reds and blues, but it does seem to have a little bit of purple cast on my screen.
Focussing on the angled head, body and tail, together whats left of his catch, works for me. I feel you could still take quite a bit off the top, and work even better. Gotta get myself over to your part some time Doug. Wanna swop a Kingfisher trip for an Osprey trip.