Pheasant feathers

This is from last week. I was at the edge of Quivira NWR, when I came across a pile of pheasant feathers. It looked like there might have been a couple birds, from the quantity of feathers. I am assuming that a hunter cleaned his birds at the side of the road before heading home. What do you think of the pic? I used a gaussian blur to soften the image among other adjustments. I had to crop creatively to get around a few sections of non-feather.

A question came to mind while I was taking the pics. The scene was obviously not a natural kill. Would you have any qualms about taking pics under these conditions? The patterns/colors are what caught my attention as I drove by.

Comments/critiques appreciate. Thanks for looking.

What an interesting picture! I really like it, Rob. Lots of places for the eye to roam, and the colors are really great. I know it represents a violent end, but taken as a graphic image, it works for me.

Hey Rob, I like the shot. The brilliant feathers and the diversity of patterns really catch the eye. I have no problem with the shot. You aren't responsible for what happened before you arrived on scene, only recording the results of the previous action. This shot shows the beauty of the pheasant so it can be appreciated by others.

Striking image Rob, and you've given me an idea I think I could use in the future. I've occasionally noticed brightly colored dead birds or butterflies on the side of the road, but never thought of them as something that could be photographed; I bet I could find some interesting detail to shoot in some of those circumstances. So look for my roadkill series in future posts! (OK, so that last sentence was a joke, but otherwise I'm serious.)
I'm glad you shared your photo.

The famous John James Audubon shot most or his subjects with a shotgun, then propped the dead bodies up and painted them.

You can do some really great things with macro shots of roadkill (and have some pretty good eats too!). By moving in really close and isolating some of the graphic aspects no one will ever see the blood.

Regarding the ethics, I feel that you've done fine, done well. I have no qualms there.

I really like this photo and hope that you'll be able to find a market for it. Most pheasant photos are of the whole bird or birds, so I really like this tight shot.

I was raised in Iowa and seeing pheasants was quite common. Here in Wisconsin, though, I've seen maybe three in the seventeen years that I've lived here. Whenever I do back to Iowa, I always hope that I'll see a pheasant or two, and when I do, it makes me feel like I'm home.

Good work,

Tim!

Great color, nice catch.

Thanks everybody for the input. It was the beauty of the feathers that really drew me in. I'll post another one in the near future.

One of my Grandmother's favorite hats was decorated with pheasant feathers - beacause they are so beautiful. So I guess if one can make a hat from them, it's OK to take a picture of them too . I like it!

Rob, very colorful and unique!

I like this image Rob. The colors and comp make a interesting photo to look at. Great find and nice work .

I love it!!!! If you like macro, a close-up of the center group of feathers would give the viewer the beautiful details. I'm curious, what happened to the feathers?
Mary Blackwell-Nikonian
League City, TX

Thanks everybody. A couple days later, the feathers were still there, but definitely showed the wear and tear of the weather.