The photographer is looking for generalized feedback about the aesthetic and technical qualities of their image.
Description
There must be a clever title but I’m at a loss. I was in the bird blind wasting photons on Nuthatches, and while I was intently staring through the viewfinder a large dark OOF blob materialized. I looked up to see six young male turkeys wandering placidly past the feeder setup. They were probably 15 ft away, too close to get the whole bodies but I was able to carefully take the camera off the tripod and handhold, looking out the side window on the blind. They are usually very skittish and I was surprised that they just ambled on, with this one pausing to seemingly try to figure out what I was. I was happy to get a portrait.
Specific Feedback
All comments welcome!
Technical Details
Some global tonal tweaks in LR, then into PS for denosie and toning down a brighter area near the top when the sun was coming through the trees. Cropped to 35% of the full frame.
Critique Template
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I don’t know about Santa Rosa, but when we were in Lafayette, these critters gathered in flocks of dozens, causing traffic jams, making people late to work, roosting in the trees outside our bedroom and gobbling at daybreak, chasing pets, scaring kids, and generally being ratty. Now, in Brookings, it’s DEER - rut has begun, and there are big males with bigger antlers walking down the streets and jumping into yards and chasing people. I love animals, but these situations are out of control just not safe. City Councils do nothing,
But I digress… this is an excellent portrait! Your usual perfect detail, accurate colours, and great BG
How about “Tuft Turkey” for the tuft of hair on its beak? I love wild turkey . . . s, eh, wild turkeys Diane. This is a really nice portrait. They have become pests in vineyards in your area too. I’ve heard from some of my fellow agricultural commissioners how hard they are on the vines when they go through and eat the ripe grapes about harvest season. Of course, they are also great at taking out a lot of grasshoppers along the way.
Thanks, @Dennis_Plank, @SandyR-B, @Ed_Williams and @Allen_Brooks! Is it just me, or are these the stupidest-looking things in the animal kingdom? They have proliferated in Sonoma County in the last 20-30 years – along with wild pigs. (The deer have been here forever – equally as destructive.) We fly to the Lafayette airport every so often for breakfast and I got some good portraits of some there several years ago – right in the parking lot next to the restaurant.
We planted 10 redwoods about 4 years ago. The little boy deer started using them to scratch their antlers in the fall. We put out overnight flashing lights, sprayed mountain lion pee and put up motion activated sprinklers. Finally the last strategy worked – after a lot of damaged trees. A neighbor recommends firearms. Several years ago I was shooting (as in photographing) at an Opsrey nest in a vineyard and the manager kept a rifle in his truck – for deer. When Ted was a kid in the Napa Valley they would use an old WWII spotlight to surprise them in vineyards at night and shoot them. Word got out. (Cabernet was expensive and worth protecting even back then.)
Thanks, @Allen_Sparks and @David_Schoen! I got lucky when they decided to wander by. They didn’t seem interested in the feeders or the spilled bits on the ground.
Great portrait, Diane. Yes, they do look a little on the dull side intelligence-wise…They’re not as ugly as Turkey Vultures though (apologies to those who appreciate the vultures)…Nice soft background too.
Thanks, @David_Bostock! It was amazing to have them just wander by. Sometimes I’ll see a group of them some distance from the house and try to sneak out with my camera and long lens, but if they see the slightest move from me they’ll head for cover. But this time they were seeming to be concerned whether they should be concerned, but with no idea what they should be concerned about. But maybe there was something… I was trying to keep a straight face and keep something in the frame.
