Touchdown

Image Critiques Avian Critiques
1

20250303_081432_Z812936.jpg
20250303_081432_Z812936.jpg2048×1518 1010 KB

Critique Style Requested: Standard

The photographer is looking for generalized feedback about the aesthetic and technical qualities of their image.

Description

I am practicing to catch birds in landing and takeoff behavior. I found a position in a nearby industrial park where the birds are routinely flying between two trees to land in the pond. So I positioned myself to catch the best action. I wanted to get lower, but the path around the pond is raised so even kneeling down, this was the lowest I could get.

Specific Feedback

Does the comp work? I know it’s technically sharp, but is there anything I could do differently in processing?

Technical Details

N ikon Z8, Z 180-600mm @ 600mm, 1/1600 sec @ f/6.3, ISO 2500

Noise reduction and sharpening in DXO photolab and all other processing in Capture One.

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2

I really like the moment you have captured here. Lovely splash and droplets. Great pose from the duck showing those beautiful underwing coverts. Processing looks good to me. A diagonal linear gradient from the LHS may work niclely.

4

@Glenys_Passier and @Sandy_Richards-Brown thank you for the comments and suggestions. I will look into the gradient. Sandy, yes, I probably could have gone with a higher shutter speed, which would also mean higher ISO.

Cheers,
David

5

Beautiful landing shot, David. These are always fun with the water spray behind them and you nailed this one with enough shutter speed to stop all those drops and get the bird very sharp.

6

Hi David
Nice touch down, I like the framing and the whites are under control, with good detail.
Peter

7

@Dennis_Plank and @Peter_Morrissey thanks for the kind comments. I appreciate them.

9

This is really nice, David. Good landing pose with the bird coming at you, sharp bird, and the water splash all make for a compelling image.

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