Only a mother could love...

[LadyHawk]

I promised some nicely done photos in exchange for free access and photo ops to a local farm and petting zoo. Not the prettiest bird, is he!:shock: Can you let me know how I'm doing?

[tupe]

Both very sharp, with excellent Bokeh. Nice color and levels.

I like the composition on #1. You might consider another vertical shot with more of the neck,
since that's a prominent feature of this bird.

[RockOne]

Very nice.

[LadyHawk]

Thanks, Steve and Tupe. Tupe... great critique, thanks for helping me learn!

[Dragonslayer]

Karen the first shot is almost perfect here, the minor nit I have is the background is somewhat distracting to the wonderful exposure and sharp head shot here. The second one has the better background but I cannot stand to see the bill cut off in the frame like this.

[LadyHawk]

Thanks Eric. I thought I'd pass the cut off bill as a deliberate creative maneuver. ;) But this is just what I happened to catch ... poor framing for sure.

In my humble defense, this old bird was pretty close to me and there was a wire fence between the two of us, and my minimum length on the lens was 70mm. To have included more of him in the picture, I would have had to back up, which would have put the wire fence in the picture. :(

Good point, well taken. Thanks for keeping me on my toes!

[stoneylonesome]

Fantastic shot. He should pay you more than free access for that shot alone. :)

[Raj]

Nice, sharp shots with lots od details !
let me tell you what I think - you are doing great !

[LadyHawk]

Thanks Sandy and Raj. I can't believe I'm finally getting the sharp shots I've always admired on POTN. I must give credit to my new 70-200mm 2.8 IS for that.

[LazyPhotographer]

I like the 1st one best. The 2nd one, without the beak, just doesn't do anything - but, if it were an real closeup of the eye, then maybe it would work. Really good focus on both. Keep them coming!

[Art Rodriguez]

Very well done. I need to get a lens like that for my camera bag.

I think what you are doing is a great idea. You get to practice your photographic skills.

Art

[LadyHawk]

OK, L.P. That's two now who have taken issue with my cut off beak. I can't get away with anything on this forum! :confused:

Seriously, thank you for not letting me get away with anything. I love your pictures and know I could learn a lot from you. Thanks!

Thanks, Art. It took me a while to save up for that one, but I'm glad I did. :)