This is an image I took last year. I have posted a few images of this scene last year, but came across this which I hadn’t shared on this forum. I liked this image for the light and water dribbling from the beak.
What technical feedback would you like if any?
Any/all.
What artistic feedback would you like if any?
I have cropped the image slightly for better composition. Would like to know how the subject looks in the frame. I like the bubbles behind the avocet, but not sure how the others feel.
Pertinent technical details or techniques:
840mm, 1/1000s@F9, ISO800 on tripod (-2/3Ev at post-processing). 90% of frame.
Great angle, Govind and the colored reflections from the water add some beautiful light to the Avocet. I do like the pose and the water dribbling off the beak. The plumage looks a bit off to my eye-like it was a bit lacking in detail and then heavily sharpened.
Thanks for the feedback, @Dennis_Plank. Now that you mention it, I too see the feathers near the eye a little different from other areas, but not sure why. I did not sharpen any particular part of the image - just applied one round to entire foreground as part of resizing it for the web. I am looking at the original RAW and notice the neck and area around the eye are wet. I think that might be why the feathers there are prominent.
Govind, this is extremely beautiful. The pose, the light, and the vantage point from where you take this image make it very pleasing.
I see what Dennis alludes to in his post above. I think it looks like a heavy crop that gets enlarged. But I don’t believe that’s true based on your description above. What NR technique do you use?
Govind, I’m certain I must have commented on the old site, as I remember the scene. Beautiful bird in equally beautiful settings. The light and calm conditions couldn’t be better. Needless to say I am envious! Glad to see your work again.
Thanks for the feedback, @Adhika_Lie. This is a very minimal crop (~10% cropped off as I mentioned in the original post). In my experience, wet feathers have an odd, almost unnatural look and in the right lighting/shadow, give an illusion of over-sharpening. I suspect that might be happening here. Do you see the same effects in rest of the plumage (breast, wings and tail)?
Re my sharpening, it is very minimal for this image. Since I shoot with an older camera, there is some noise in the entire image from the iso setting. In this case, I added a round of noise reduction to the background only. For web processing, I added a round of sharpening to the avocet alone so that it will be sharp when reduced in size.
Thanks for the kind words, @Bill_Leggett. As you mentioned I posted a few images of this scene last year too in the old forum. I was fortunate to visit this area often last summer and see this elegant birds at close range, providing me with several nice photo ops. My photography (and consequently, my participation here) has become increasingly sporadic over the last few years, but I am glad when I get the chance. Every once in a while I login to look at the images here and then remember why I got into photography .
Love this photo, the colors, and the details of the water balancing the details of the bird. I believe you were asking a question about the new cropping: My response is that I feel if you had allowed the ripple effect with the bubbles (on the left side) a bit more room, it would be perfect. To me, it feels a tiny bit cut-off - and I would have liked to see the ripple balance on both sides. Otherwise - perfectly wonderful photo!
.