Pelican Stretch in High Key...

[Paul Pagano]

I shot this the other day in late afternoon back-lit conditions. This guy was stretching off of an old dock piling. I decided to fool with it more than I normally fool with an image. I cloned out the bottom portion of the image where the blurred (far bank) of the river was to get the whole thing clean. Added a bit of flash and some contrast. Slight crop for composition (maybe 10%)

Canon 40D
Canon 400 f/5.6L
Av @ f/5.6 1/1600s
ISO 320
CWM @ +2 EV

[Arthur Morris]

Good try but bird still too dark esp. face and bill pouch. Not sure what to suggest as you have likely lightened this already. Next time try 3 stops off the white sky set manually.

later and love, artie

[Hernan Peyras]

Although it is a bit dark like Arthur said, I find the composition very attratictive :)

Hernan

[Paul Pagano]

I managed some more lightening out of it, but not sure if it's overdone now. For some reason, I got into this thing about liking darker, only once its pointed out to me do I start to see where it is too dark. I added more flash to this one.

[Arthur Morris]

Much improved. Might add a bit of contrast via a Curves ADJ. While I like the curves and teh design of the image I can now mention that the head is angled slightly away from you.

later and love, artie

[Robert Amoruso]

Paul,

I like the reworking and agree with Artie on the angle not being optimum.

[Manos Papadomanolakis]

I really like the repost!

[Juan Aragonés]

Instead of the problems with such a difficult exposure this is an image with a powerful and strong aesthetic and graphic value. I like it a lot