Another image from the South of Mexico. Almost FF, cropped for composition. Taken from the boat in the early morning sunrise time. Comments are welcome.
1DMKIII
500mm+1.4TC
ISO400
1/640
f:8
Handheld from the boat.
Can't help but appreciate the feeding behavior. The apparent lack of waves on
the water gives greater interest to the crown feathers. The face of the bird, beak and
right leg look a little hot for the dark background.
Very sharp, love the pose and the curled prey item. I also like the bits of vegetation in the water.
I think the contrast is fine, it's the exposure that is too much and makes this look a bit washed out and "harsh". I've lowered the midtones to 0.88, applied a cooling filter (to the water only), and cropped away the bit of body at bottom (I think this would look good as a 3 : 2 ratio with more room in front.). Also "sponged the iris to make a deeper yellow on the eye.