Distressed about this crane image

What technical feedback would you like if any? As you can see, I failed to capture the crane’s right foot in the frame. Should I : 1) Crop it differently 2) Discard it altogether. I’m sad about this because the light was good and the crane was isolated in a field that made a nice background and close enough to get a sharp image.

What artistic feedback would you like if any?

Pertinent technical details or techniques: Only minor lightroom adjustments made. D5, 500mm PF, 1/1600 sec at f/5.6, ISO 560

(If backgrounds have been removed, etc. please be honest with your techniques to help others learn)

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Hi Sharon. The first thing I’d do is look through the other frames you took of this bird to see if you have that foot in about the same position. If you do, you can just add aome canvas to the bottom and steal the foot from the other frame. This is a beautiful crane pose and it would be worth some extra work.

Dennis, Thank you so much. I will try that.

Other than the missing foot, I like everything about this image. Very good detail and lighting, I the background works really well. Dennis’s suggestion is a great one if you can make it work.

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Very nice color and detail. Nice pose with the foot raised and a very pleasing background. Another potential solution would be to add some canvas at the bottom and clone in some of the grass to suggest that the foot is hidden in the grass.

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That is a good idea by Dennis. It is a very nice photo missing a foot. You do already have a fine sandhill portrait, and there is another in this photo if you cannot do the foot.

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Hi Sharron
Foot gate 2020. I believe this has happen to most photographers and I include myself in that group. You have a great looking Crane the coloring and detail in this photograph is vary good. The Crane pop out of the soft brown background. ( maybe just raising the crop on bottom of the frame?) Nice work.
Peter

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Sharon: Your image of the crane is very nice, except as noted, the missing foot. This happens to all of us. If this were mine, it goes in the bucket labeled, close, but not quite. I would not try to alter the image and add a foot. I’m guessing you took this at the Bosque or Bernardo. I’d just go back with this image in my head as motivation to create an even better image. Of course this image will never happen again. That’s the beauty of photography, capturing moments in time. Don’t get too married to an image that in the end, just didn’t quite work out.

Keith, thank you so much for your thoughts and advice.