Wild Turkey

[Linwood Ferguson]

Did I ruin it by not allowing room for the virtual feet (that's the bottom of the frame). Taken in the Great Smokey Mountains, jumping out of a car and trying to get the camera reader before he wandered off. D800, F5.6, 1/500th, ISO 200, 200mm (200-400mm F4).

Of a dozen or so shots, this was one of the few where the eye was looking at me, in focus, not blocked (much) by foliage, etc. But no feet. And could have used a bit more DOF, but the head did come out nicely sharp.

Criticism solicited.

[Matt Tucker]

I think you can fix the virtual feet problem by cropping more off the bottom. It would be more of a head shot and the feet wouldn't "missing". I think doing so would mean you would have to crop a lot from the right. I would say enough so that the eye of the turkey is in the right half of the frame instead of the left. All depends if you are willing to make such an extreme crop.

[Linwood Ferguson]

Interesting. Just experimenting with the browser, that also has the advantage of removing the out of focus on the back/tail.

[Kerry Perkins]

Hi Linwood, I think Matt has a good idea with the crop. You could do a 3/4 portrait by cropping in from the lower right corner. You have a nice pose, detail, and color rendition. Love the head angle and the curve of the neck. I would suggest toning down the green of the background, as it seems a little bright to me. Good catch!