![\"american](\"http:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/american-avocet-7681-ron-dudley.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\n\u00a01\/4000, f\/6.3, ISO 500, 500 f\/4, 1.4 tc, natural light<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n But I do like this one because of the sharpness of the bird, the position of the wings and feet, the\u00a0nice eye contact, the pretty good exposure on a difficult subject\u00a0and the somewhat unusual perspective with the viewer looking down on the bird that is flying mostly toward us.<\/p>\n However I don’t particularly appreciate those two twigs behind the head so\u00a0I’ve never posted this image before.\u00a0 Much as I\u00a0dislike significant cloning, getting\u00a0rid of those twigs has sorely tempted me more than once\u00a0but in the end I just couldn’t do it (though I’ll admit to playing with it a little bit…).<\/p>\n So I’m asking for\u00a0critique on the image as presented.\u00a0 How much of a distraction do you think\u00a0those two twigs are?\u00a0 Sometimes I become obsessed with imperfections (as several of you have pointed out on previous posts) and can’t see the forest for the trees.\u00a0 Perhaps the twigs aren’t as much of a problem as I think they might be.<\/p>\n But either way, please be brutally honest.<\/p>\n Thank you in advance for any thoughts on this you’d be willing to share.<\/p>\n Ron<\/p>\n Note:\u00a0 There are conflicting visual cues on this image for rotation.\u00a0 One would expect the twigs in the background to be vertical but when I rotate to make them so the water looks tilted.\u00a0 This orientation worked best overall for my eye.\u00a0 Perhaps the\u00a0twigs really were leaning – it does happen.\u00a0 \u00a0 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" In my experience American Avocets are difficult subjects to get in flight because of their speed and erratic flight patterns.\u00a0 I’ve tried often but I sure\u00a0don’t have many flight shots of the species that are very good. \u00a01\/4000, f\/6.3, ISO 500, 500 f\/4, 1.4 tc, natural light But I do like this one because of the sharpness of the bird, the position of the wings and feet, the\u00a0nice eye contact, the pretty good exposure on a difficult subject\u00a0and the somewhat unusual perspective with the viewer looking down on the bird that is flying mostly toward us. However I don’t particularly appreciate those two twigs behind the head so\u00a0I’ve never posted this image before.\u00a0 Much as I\u00a0dislike significant cloning, getting\u00a0rid of those twigs has sorely tempted me more than once\u00a0but in the end I just couldn’t do it (though I’ll admit to playing with it a little bit…). So I’m asking for\u00a0critique on the image as presented.\u00a0 How much of a distraction do you think\u00a0those two twigs are?\u00a0 Sometimes I become obsessed with imperfections (as several of you have pointed out on previous posts) and can’t see the forest for the trees.\u00a0 Perhaps the twigs aren’t as much of a problem as I think they might be. But either way, please be brutally honest. Thank you in advance for any thoughts on this you’d be willing to share. Ron Note:\u00a0 There are conflicting visual cues on this image for rotation.\u00a0 One would expect the twigs in the background to be vertical but when I rotate…<\/p>\n