yes .. its sometimes so hard to decide which way to go with our edits .. leave that wing in .. or take it out ..
from my perspective i actually like both .. in .. and out ..
they both tell a different 'story' ..
anyhoooo .. something i love about photos of birds in flight is their legs and feet .. the legs stretching out and the feet ..
some feet are cute and endearing .. and some are powerful and mean business .. this .. to me is the latter . !! ..
well caught .. and loving the tones .. :)
I like this a lot but I'm double minded about you leaving the wing reflection in this image. I feel maybe cropped out would have fit the simplicity theme better IMHO.
Love the edit though, almost soft contrast. Looks great.
I'm guessin you tried to ssimplify by changing the background color. In one way it's not natural anymore but in another (good) way you made it a puzzle. Nice thinking and excellent fly-by nature photography.