I bet my submission is the only one with an extinct species.
I didn't have any luck with live pigeons (they are skitish and my lens is not very long) so I thought I would try out the Museum of Natural History in Iowa City. They have a whole wing with several thousand preserved birds including many extinct birds (Dodos are pretty funny looking). I hope that it isn't obvious that this bird isn't alive (other than the fact that the species is extinct).
I remember giving this image a high score. I really liked the way the bird tilted his head, wish both wings on a diagonal. The upper left part is brighter and distracts a bit from his head. This was an advanced editing challenge, so I would have smoothed the image a bit (carefully leaving the important parts sharp). Due to the high ISO it does have a bit of grain. Now that might be your preference, so again, it's personal choice.
The eye of the bird is amazing. It's sharp and colourful. Becuase it is so attractive, I would have tried to compose the shot so the eye would land in the upper right third of the image. Your positioning is not bad, but cropping a bit from the right side would have strenghen the compo.
The colours are quite pleasing, maybe a bit of contrast to make them pop even more. Other than that, I really like this one.
P.S. I didn't realize the bird was dead. You made him look alive!
I would never have known the bird was not alive...nice! I like the photo. I guess since you asked for critique I can only say what I may have done different if it were my photo. Keep in mind I am by no means an expert and actually think it looks good already. The only thing I would have done was used a noise recuding software and sharpened the eye after.
Greetings from the Critique Club and congratulations on your new personal best!
For a second I really thought it was a live bird! I really like how the lighting, DOF and the camera angle draw attention to the eye of the pigeon.
While the square crop works well here, I think a tighter crop might have worked a little better. I like the dark color but the light spots in the background are a somewhat distracting. Given that it was an advanced editing challenge, you could spot edit and tone them down. The grain from high ISO is also most noticeable in those areas.
I think a pass of sharpening on the head would have brought out more details and enhanced this wonderful image.
If you have any questions about this critique, please feel free to PM me.
Nice one Dan but yes, extinct. Despite Wikipedia (everyones bible) new evidence supports that hunting alone is not the sole cause of it's extinction, but habitat destruction has played as large a role, as is even the case of the Dodo which dissapeared due to dogs and macaques being introduced to Mauritius by man. So all those "conservation" groups are starting to duck thier heads in their offices and mansions and SUV's...just because they don't "hunt" doesn't mean they themselves aren't also contributing to species demise, and if they own a cat...Enough of the lecture...
I like how the bird seems to be leaning back at us --ohh, passenger pigeon? Is this a stuffed bird? Interesting how alive it seems as it appears to look back.
Normally I don't like harsh lighting that creates abrupt shadows like this, but here, somehow it just works really well... I also love that square crop!
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