I was looking through old folders for an image that my wife wanted and happened on the one session I’ve ever had with this species when this one landed in a snag in our yard and gave me an opportunity for quite a few frames. I know I posted one when it happened, but I haven’t been able to reconstruct which image it was and this has been processed from scratch this afternoon, so I’ll consider it new.
Specific Feedback Requested
Does the bird need more room?
Technical Details
Canon 40D, 500 mm f/4 + 1.4 TC, f/10, 1/200, iso 320, aperture priority +1EV. Processed today with PS & LR CC. Cropped to 2312x1850 from the original 3888x2592. Taken April 5, 2009 at 8:27 AM.
The framing looks perfect to me!! What a gorgeous capture and wonderful sharpness and detail. I’d be tempted to prune the branch exiting at the bottom. I love that orange lichen, and it matches the feet so well!
(I don’t know about others, but for me those old bodies weren’t nearly as bad as my old processing was.)
I think the framing is perfect too. The colors on this Merlin are beautiful. The small limb that sticks up on the left behind the bird bothers me more than the bottom limbs. I think because those are below the bird. Great job!! Glad you brought this one back for me to view.
Great close up look at the Merlin with a nice pose and good detail. The crop looks good. I’d probably remove the small branch sticking up on the left. I, too, like the coloring on the perch.
Great shot. I would consider cloning out the branch pointing down in front of the tail, and leave everything else alone. I think there’s enough tail feather information there to patch that in.
I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a Merlin before. I think the crop is just right, and good details throughout. I was a bit astonished to see you shot it at +1Ev, and a relatively slow shutter speed to catch that movement. Well done.
Couldn’t resist. But yeah, you could see how much cloning would improve this before it just looked too static and neat. I like it the way it is because the pose is so dramatic and the branches going hither and yon don’t take that away in my view. It has room to move into the direction it’s moving and is a good, tight shot, but also shows what they might prefer in a perch. Good job with the resurrection!
Hi Dennis
Merlin looks ready for action. There is nothing of interest in the background, so the framing works for me. I really like the coloring, feather detail and eye contact.
Peter
