The photographer is looking for generalized feedback about the aesthetic and technical qualities of their image.
Description
There some Northern Harriers at a nearby state park. I watched as this bird circled over a field and then dropped into the field. When it emerged from the tall grasses with prey in its talons, it initially flew away but then turned around and flew towards me.
Specific Feedback
It took a number of visits to get close enough to a bird as it hunted resulting in this photo. I’m curious what if anything you would do with the lightest bands of vegetation. Any other suggestions would be appreciated.
Technical Details
1/3200, f/8 and Auto ISO. Processed in Lrc and PS. It was also re-sized in Topaz Photo AI.
I like the pose you caught and the detail looks great. Wonderful action shot. For me the harrier stands out well from the vegetation and don’t think you need to do much. Also,I like where the harrier is in the composition.
Wonderful!! Perfect moment and pose, great detail on the bird. I don’t see the BG as having light bands. You could lighten the darker band on the top edge, and possibly the darker areas behind the bird, but that’s a very small suggestion for a very nice image.
Very good, Richard. Even without the prey this would be an excellent Harrier image. With it it’s just great. I don’t see anything needed on the background. If I did anything, I’d add a little pop to the harrier’s eye, but I may overdo eyes.
Richard, I do love the pose and composition. I think the background is just fine. However, when I look at the larger version, the harrier itself seems a bit flat, especially around the upper body. I wonder if it needs a bit more contrast.
How rare is it that we get to see a harrier capture prey? Outstanding. In all of the years I’ve been shooting these birds, I can count on one hand the number of times I’ve seen them actually capture prey. You have a very dynamic pose with great head on light showcasing the talons, the prey and head of the bird. There is also a very nice head turn and I LOVE the grasses in the talons. I don’t notice anything regarding the highlights in the background but those dark areas really pull the eye. I agree with @Max_Waugh about the image appearing flat and in need of a contrast boost and some whites. I hope you don’t mind but I downloaded the file and made just a few quick adjustments including a slight crop off the top and right edge and selectively dodged the dark spots in LR very quickly. The right hand side of the histogram was completely empty. You can go further with those dark spots if they bother you or not. AS a side note, it looks like you selectively selected the bird or the background for processing and the tips of the feathers towards the bottom have very light spots in the background.
I did not remove that in my edited version but you could go back and make a slight tweak to your mask so that doesn’t show up. This may or may not be what your intention was for the image though so take this with a grain of salt. Wonderful image!
