Critique Style Requested: Initial Reaction
Please share your immediate response to the image before reading the photographer’s intent (obscured text below) or other comments. The photographer seeks a genuinely unbiased first impression.
Questions to guide your feedback
Initial thoughts
Sky–no character–too much, not enough?
Other Information
Please leave your feedback before viewing the blurred information below, once you have replied, click to reveal the text and see if your assessment aligns with the photographer. Remember, this if for their benefit to learn what your unbiased reaction is.
Image Description
Killdeer (Charadrius vociferus)
It’s so hard for me to catch these little birds in flight. This particular morning, I heard them calling out, heading straight in my direction. I was able to track nicely when they made a sharp right turn down to land just a few feet away. Lucky catch.
Technical Details
600mm, 1/2000sec @ f/8, ISO 500
Critique Template
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I think the flight pose of the bird with that gorgeous head turn, wants to be pretty large in the frame, particularly since the sky is basically a blue backdrop. My feeling is that you got it just about right. Enough room to move into but not so much as to make it boring. The energy expressed in the pose is sufficient to carry this image without a fancy background.
Hi David, really nice catch of a tough bird to get in flight. I like the crop and placement in the frame is quite good. There is plenty of space for the bird to move into on left and bottom but we can also see good details in the larger image size. Open beak and the wing position are a big plus too. Well done.
@Dennis_Plank and @Allen_Sparks thanks for the kind comments. I feel pretty lucky to have nailed this one.
Cheers,
David
A head on view of a bird in flight is challenging and you pulled this off with a nice head turn towards the viewer and excellent detail. The open beak is a nice bonus. Great job.
Wonderful!! All said above! No need for anything but this gorgeous little bird in its native space!
I’m jealous – I can’t even get within 100 ft of one on the ground!
@Allen_Brooks and @Diane_Miller thank you for the kind words. Much appreciated.
Regards,
David
This is great. It’s very hard to get these in something other than a standard profiled flight position. The slight downward angle and semi-awkward flapping pose really make it stand out.
