Rework
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
Can you see color in the plumage, besides the stripes?
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
Individual Willow Ptarmigan in the snow. These birds tend to have a faint pink hue to their winter plumage as opposed to pure white, yet are well camouflaged from their predators. Unlike other birds. ptarmigan change their plumage three times each year. Molt events change the bird’s coloration to match seasonal changes in the dominant colors of its environment: plumage becomes all white during winter, largely mottled brown during summer, and a warmer shade of brown during fall.The Willow Ptarmigan is the largest and most numerous of the three ptarmigan species.
Technical Details
Canon EOS 10 D, Canon EF 70-200mm + 2x @ 400mm; f/5.6 @ 1/4000 sex, -1 EV, ISO 400; handheld, manual focus
Specific Feedback
Whatever you think, positive or negative, and why
1 Like
Wow, talk about camouflage! This is a very nice portrait of this bird Bob. Not even sure where the stripes are, but the plumage seems to have a rose tint, reminding me of the endangered roseate terns we sometime see off the CT shoreling.
Thank you @Jim_Lockhart for your nice comments. The stripes are near the tail.
I see just a hind of shadowing here and there and some gray/black patches here and there, Bob, but nothing I’d call real color. A great shot of this bird in the situation this coloration is meant for.
I guess my eyes aren’t that good. I couldn’t really see the pink.
Thank you @Dennis_Plank for your observations. I reviewed the original file and other copies I have posted. It is VERY faint. I want to repost next to original post. A few other NPN members suggested the repost be placed adjacent to the original post, but I cannot discover how to accomplish that task. So I’m placing it here.
I certainly see the slight pink tinge here, Bob. An interesting color. I could spend awhile trying to figure out how it works as an evolutionary advantage (if it does).
To post your image above or below the original, go to the bottom of your original post, above any comments, and in the toolbar there click on the pencil icon to go into the edit mode. An edit box should pop up. Scroll to the top of that box and you’ll see a long text string starting with an exclamation point(!). That’s your original image. Place your cursor above or below it and use the yellow upload button in the edit toolbar to upload your new version. While you’re there, add text above or below each of the image strings to identify which is which. Also go up to the title in the edit box and insert something like “and Repost” to let people know to look for a revision.
Hi Bob, Nice image of a Ptarmigan. I was just watching a nature show about the Arctic Ungava Peninsula. and they tracked the Ptarmigan through the change of seasons. Very fun. Might be a different species than the one here.
Anyway, I like this high key look. Camouflage is wonderful. At first I couldn’t see the pink but my color assistant tool pointed it out to me…a little orange mixed in too?
One final note, I see that @Dennis_Plank explained the reposting steps. I noticed that the one you posted in the comments seems a bit softer than the original image. Might be a jpg conversion…
Hi Bob, I can see the full outline of the bird in the snow - well camouflaged for sure. Nice image showing this unique bird and the snowy environment they call home.
I can see the slight pink in the repost. Well done.
Thank you @David_Bostock . I must confess that I have experienced numerous unforeseen abberations in my posts. The same images that have been published in numerous print and online venues and also reside on my website. There must be some algorithmic interference encountered with the upload. By and large I don’t experience this, so when it occurs I’m left a bit puzzled.
