Long over due for a whipping

[MarkS]

Hi Fellow Grinners,
I haven't posted in some time and I feel in a need of a good thrashing! I got this shot on a recent trip to the Florida Everglades. What do you think?
http://marks.smugmug.com/photos/138216671-L.jpg

[gchappel]

Technically the shot looks good.
The background is too busy for my tastes- the gbh blends into the background. The same shot, with a different background- more sky, water, etc., would be much stronger.
Don't pay any attention to my opinions though- most of my shots are much worse:)
gary

[moose135]

Don't pay any attention to my opinions though- most of my shots are much worse:)

I have to agree with you Gary - the bird almost disappears into the background, I had to look twice to really see it. A lower angle to place the bird against the sky would work better for me.

[wxwax]

I've seen bird shots look really good against a background like that, but only if they have true separation. Bokeh, or motion blur, would both do the job. It's also really hard to recover from that middle of the day direct light, it's very unflattering.

I do like how you gave the bird room to fly, and caught it in a classic flight position.

[MarkS]

Thanks for your feedback, I see what you mean. I still feel happy to get a crisp shot of a flying bird:barb

Mark

[episodic]

Assuming you have a hires file - 6 megapixels or more - why not just a close crop?

Then you can spend some time 'gently' blurring the background with the blur tool. This will make the crane 'pop'....