Killdeer

[Sidharth Kodikal]

50D, 300 2.8, 2x TC II
1/800, f 6.3, iso 400

This is from over a year ago.
I never processed this because of the less than ideal HA. I badly wish he had given me some more head turn. Is that a complete image killer?

Feedback appreciated.

[James Salywoda]

Absolutely stunning ! Gorgeous colors and detail your work is looking fantastic keep at Sidharth

[Robert Holguin]

Excellent shot. Wonderful background, great shooting angle, and nice detail. The head angle doesn't bother me. Well done.

[dankearl]

Sidharth, I am not enough of an expert to judge HA, etc.
I just look at what I like and this qualifies in every aspect.
Lovely BG and the head is sharp.
Feather detail could be a tad better, but overall, a very appealing image.

[arash_hazeghi]

Sidharth, the light and feather details are perfect so is the low angle. I agree HA is a bit less than ideal, especially given that the bird itself is slightly angled away from us. Def not a killer but I am sure you will be more happy when you get a slightly better HA :)

[Tom Rambaut]

Light and colours are amazing - sure HA is an issue but still worth posting. TFS

[Dumay de Boulle]

All the techs are spot on, Shooting angle, exp, IQ, DOF...Love the colors...HA is almost there but the body away from us is probably less than ideal more than HA.

[Stu Bowie]

Hey Sid, when you achieve a killer IQ, as in this, together with that stunning OOF BG, I wouldnt mind if he stood on his head. Super low perspective, and because he has such a large eye, this angle doesnt bother me.

[Mital Patel]

i would ditto STU for the HA SID. this is indeed a great image with such a creamy bg and perfect LA.

[Neil Nourse]

Beautiful colors with a great low angle and what a clean background. Not ideal Body/HA but it's a keeper in my book.

[Kaustubh Deshpande]

Sidharth....HA does not bother me at all. What I like the most here is the "in their world" feel...and I think the HA helps....gives the feeling the bird is not aware of you. I am liking that. IQ, low angle, water......what a shot.

Did you forget sharpening the feet?

[yogesh_puranik]

sid bhai..i think you should keep the image i liked the sharpness details colors and Bg..

[Sidharth Kodikal]

Thank you all for the comments. I appreciate all the feedback.

... with that stunning OOF BG, I wouldnt mind if he stood on his head.

Ha! That cracked me up

... What I like the most here is the "in their world" feel...and I think the HA helps....gives the feeling the bird is not aware of you. I am liking that. IQ, low angle, water......what a shot.
Did you forget sharpening the feet?

Very interesting way of looking at it, Kaustubh. I hadn't thought of it.
Re. the feet, I didn't do any selective sharpening in this image. I will selectively sharpen the legs. Thanks!

Thanks again everyone

[Randy Stout]

Sidharth:

Strikes me as a very painterly presentation, looks very nice.

I assume you ran NR on the foreground and background, as even the water at the birds feet isn't sharp. There is also a unusual look to the birds knee area on our right as if your masking for NR missed here.


It presents nicely, just think it could be tweaked a bit.

Cheers

Randy

[Sidharth Kodikal]

Sidharth:

I assume you ran NR on the foreground and background, as even the water at the birds feet isn't sharp. There is also a unusual look to the birds knee area on our right as if your masking for NR missed here.


It presents nicely, just think it could be tweaked a bit.

Cheers

Randy

Hi Randy,
I did not run any NR on this image. I exposed it way to the right, to the extent that I had to grapple with the whites. So no NR was needed at all.
I applied (as I usually do), smart sharpen to the entire image. So no selection or masking there either.
Cannot explain why the water at the bird's feet isn't sharp.

I did clean up a couple of minor blobs from the water and evened out an oof plant that was just slightly visible in an otherwise clean bg.
I will check if any of that clean up was near the knee to see if I can do that better.
I will also selectively sharpen the legs and the water around it to see if that improves it. Any other suggestions welcomed.
Thanks for your comments, Randy. I appreciate them.

[Randy Stout]

Sidharth:

Thanks for getting back on the NR question. Perhaps the low shooting angle changed the perspective enough that the usual slice of sharp water at the birds feet isn't noticeable. I stand corrected

Cheers

Randy