Kestrel Colours

[benh]

This was a chance shot and basically the only editing I did was in Picasa where I blurred the photo outer in order to get rid of the boring background (pallets). I'm happy with the sharpness but as I'm new to photography I have a little trouble visualising the correct WB and ISO prior to taking the shot.
Nikon D5000, 200mm, f5.4.

[Vernian]

Wow, this is a fantastic shot! I think the only reason you haven't had any replies yet is simply because often attachments won't open for some of us. I usually ignore critiques with attachments rather than imbedded photos - you may want to look at getting a flickr account.

I think you're spot on on the focus with this one. One of the (many) guidelines for composition is to not centre your subject, but in this case I think you broke the rule with great success. I like how the feathers and shape is used to bring your eyes to his/her face. And the expression is just priceless!

I think the blurring worked well to isolate your subject from the backgroud, but it would be even better if you could apply the blurring only to the background and not to the feathers in the lower right corner too, though I must admit it adds a bit of a dreamy quality to it. It is a great use of negative space.

If you can take this kind of photo when you're just starting out I can't wait to see what you do next :-)

Very nice shot, keep shooting and posting them here.