I wasn't going to enter this challenge because the only birds around here are pigeons, gulls and ducks (and a few juncos and goldfinches at my feeders). But I went to the lake and managed to get what I think is a different perspective of the common pigeon. They really do have pretty colours if you look closely.
I was using my 75-300mm zoom lens and this was taken at full zoom, hand-held. I've heard people say this lens is not sharp at full zoom but this photo is pretty sharp. I was really close to the pigeon, in fact at one point I had to back off the zoom because I was too close to focus.
The pigeon is all puffed up because it was a pretty cold day. There is very little done to this photo other than a small crop, sharpening, contrast, clarify and some saturation. There is no selective desaturation although it might look like there is.
I like the photo, let's see what the voters think.
Outtake:
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Cracking shot Karen that got an 8 from me although I am surprised you have pigeons (winged rats) in Nfld as I thought they were generally city birds. I loved the tight crop, the sharpness and of course the range of colours which had a real electric feel to them. Very impressive finish in what I thought was a challenge which had a lot of outstanding images in it
I'm really glad this got a decent score. I gave it a 10 - was my favourite from the whole challenge because it stood out for it's originality...i.e. not a bald eagle, duck or hummingbird...but taking a common bird and simply transforming it into a thing of beauty.
7 - Good concept. They are beautiful colors in these birds, you've done well to showcase them - just wonder about a variation in composition, 'somehow'.
An EXCELLENT composition to showcase these often-hated birds. I quite like 'em, even though they're terribly dirty. They're also fun to watch and quite pretty.
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