Braking hard...

[Don Railton]

Hi Guys

A photo of a Corella (i Think...) comming to a screaching halt in our local park... They live there by the hundereds and make quite a racket. These are the only bird I have seen that seem quite comfortable to lie on their back... They roll around tossing leaves in the air and sometimes wrestling with other birds. Not sure what this behaviour is about, but its quite common. (No, they are not mating..) Will post a photo sequence one day...

Image details:
1D4 + 500 F4 at 1/2500 second
Aperature Priority mode at F8 at -1/3 rd, should have been -2/3rd...
ISO 400
Hand held...

Processed in ACR, then adjustments in levels, curves, and selective colour.
I removed 4 OOF birds from the background and a red blurry line which was a distant brick wall...

[Gus Hallgren]

G`day Don;

My goodness he's a fiesty bird. Great capture, details very well exposed, with good colour (your spell`n), sharpness and perfect whites, Someone may not
like the black on the bottom, but I like that it seems to be the bird's point of interest.

Gus

BTW: Give my regards to George Aylmore.

[Ravi Hirekatur]

Hi Don,
Beautiful bird and a beautiful image! Love the pose. Nice composition and background. Image is sharp. Agree with Gus on keeping the black shadow at the bottom.

[Don Railton]

Thanks Guys...

Will forward your best wishes to George Next time I see him Gus.

Both, thanks for commenting on the shadow, I was unsure whether to include it or not, decided I should, then see if it 'raised comment' good or bad...


DON

[Kerry Perkins]

Hi Don, good job of capturing the landing! Is that the bird's own shadow? Excellent job of controlling the whites as well as the rest of the exposure. Nice color rendition as well - really like the subtle red tones on the head and neck. Well done!

[Jeff Cashdollar]

Don,

Good comments above but wanted to compliment you on the unique subject placement and different look. IMO photos have three basic elements:

1. color
2. gesture
3. form

In this picture, the colors are spot-on (great whites), the gesture is unique (love it!) and the form is the subject. My only nit is the signature is too big - always something right (smile).

[Don Railton]

Kerry & Jeff,

Yes, that is the birds shadow, and I was unsure if should include it or not but as you can see, I decided it should be there as it was part of the 'action'. These birds are crazy and I am sure it was screeching at its own shadow to 'get out of the way'...

The whites I thought I slightly overcooked at exposure but I discovered a technique put forward by Robert Amoruso that helped me recover the whites nicely. So a big 'Thank you' to BPN and all its moderators...

This is my first posting with a signature, and I thought it was a little too much 'in ya face' and tried to tone it down with opacity adjustments, but will now adjust the size of the text to fix.

Thanks to all for the encouragement..

DON

[Kerry Perkins]

Don, absolutely it should be there! It is essential to the telling of the story that an image can convey. I like it a lot.

[Jeff Cashdollar]

Don,

As the photographer you tell the story and are in charge of controlling the frame. Without your eye and selection on what goes in and what is excluded the story does not get properly told. There are times when some will disagree with the framing but ultimately we own the story. Yes sir, the shadows stays it is part of the elements that makes this a picture - well done.