Just arrived

Image Critiques Avian Critiques
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Just arrived
Just arrived2708×1805 348 KB

Image Description

Last year, I posted an image of a stork feeding a young. The nesting pole was recently erected and the same year a couple of storks arrived, but late in the season.
This year they are early. It is still winter, but winter in Europe has been very mild and maybe the birds didn’t migrate all the way to Africa and stayed a bit closer to their summer’s residences.
Obviously, they are determined to raise the next generation. I hope that they will succeed and I’ll try to follow the progress in the coming months.

Type of Critique Requested

  • Aesthetic: Feedback on the overall visual appeal of the image, including its color, lighting, cropping, and composition.

  • Conceptual: Feedback on the message and story conveyed by the image.

  • Emotional: Feedback on the emotional impact and artistic value of the image.

  • Technical: Feedback on the technical aspects of the image, such as exposure, color, focus and reproduction of colors and details, post-processing, and print quality.

Specific Feedback and Self-Critique

Aesthetic: Unfortunately, I can’t find a high place where I can look in the nest. So the images are made at ground level. The angle is far from ideal, and I must stay away pretty far to prevent the angle from becoming even sharper. Is this bothering you?
Conceptional and Emotional: I have a lot of images of the 2 storks on the nest. There are also images of the birds hunting in the meadows nearby, or bathing in a pool in the grass after the heavy rain of last week. The selection is difficult, but I hope that this image shows the apparent affection between the birds.
Technical: the nest is only a few miles away from my home. I prefer to leave the car at home and take the bike. Lazy as I am, I leave the better (but heavy) Sigma 4/100-300mm and the tripod at home and carry a light 4.5-6.3/55-300mm consumer zoom, that I often use when hiking in the mountains. I promise to mend my ways, but do you think it affects the image quality too much?

Technical Details

Pentax K3 Mk. III, Pentax 4.5-6.3/55-300mm @300mm, ISO 400, f/7.1, 1/1000 sec, Exp.Comp. +2/3 EV.
RAW conversion in DxO PL6, very little further processing, slight crop.

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Good morning! What a great opportunity to have these birds so close to your home. To focus on your questions… I personally do not have a problem with the angle of this as the action is compelling. I also think the quality is fine…good detail! Have fun!! Would love to see more.

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Thank you @Robena.Sirett for your comment! If there are future images worth posting I’ll share them with the NPN community.