Gambel's Quail

[Snarkbyte]

I don't do much wildlife shooting, but I was out looking for a good B&W subject this weekend when I noticed some quail walking along a fence not far away. Quickly switched to the 70-200mm lens and sat quietly for a while. Finally managed to get this shot of a hen, though it isn't the best of light. I was shooting almost directly away from the sun, so it almost looks like on-camera flash. I managed to bring out some of the detail using Jiro's vivid light contrast technique, plus a few other adjustments to focus attention on the bird. Comments and suggestions for improvement are most welcome.

[Bobobird]

Nice shot, excellent pp. Next time get down low.

Btw, what vivid light technique ??

[Snarkbyte]

Next time get down low.

Yep, I really wanted to, but there was a stone wall between me and the bird, about 5 ft. high. "Sat quietly" was just a figure of speech, since I was really standing behind a wall, mostly hidden. As you can tell, the hen looked at me when the AF motor whirred.

Btw, what vivid light technique ??

The technique is described in the first post of this thread.

[Bobobird]

Thanks Al.

Yes I know about low and high and flat and crooked.

Sometimes it is just impossible... Good shot yours considering the wall.

[Geoff F]

The basic shot is fine for me, Al.

But I find the background a little confusing at the top. So I would consider a crop to a different ratio. Would a 3 x 2 ratio work?

[Snarkbyte]

I find the background a little confusing at the top. So I would consider a crop to a different ratio. Would a 3 x 2 ratio work?

Yeah, the top left especially is somewhat distracting, and it was much worse before I dimmed and desaturated the green leaves. I looked at the 3:2 ratio you suggested, and it looks pretty cramped. There's just not enough space above the bird's head to crop out the distraction and still leave some breathing room. I could clone out the distracting elements, but I get a bit pickier about the degree of alteration I can accept for wildlife shots (I'm not so picky about other kinds of shots). No doubt some would prefer the cramped image to the distraction, but in this case it boils down to personal preference. No matter which aspect ratio you choose, there's likely to be just as many people who prefer the other option. Thanks for the suggestion, it was definitely worth a look.