American Avocet - Summer Lake, Oregon

[gareth thomson]

Hello everyone: I'm new here and new to photography. I bought my first dslr a little over a year ago, and a 300 f/4 about 8 months ago. Had I known how much fun it is to shoot birds, I would not have bought a Pentax K-5, as the AF is hit or miss and the 300 is the longest Pentax lens in production. I'm thinking of migrating to Canikon - I rented a 1D4 over the summer and was impressed w/ the AF. But, I'm not sure better gear would make me a better shooter. Everyone here is so helpful, so thanks in advance for any tips. I know I really need help w/ PS & LR… well with everything

Took this shot of an American Avocet in winter plumage (right?) on Sunday at Summer Lake refuge here in Oregon.

Cropped, some cleanup, shadow/highlight work, sharpening. No luck on dealing w/ the blown highlights on bird (mid-afternoon shot, so light was harsh). I did try some low-opacity cloning of nearby areas - not sure what others think of that kludge.


Pentax K-5
300mm f/4 (450mm effective)
f/7
iso 320
1/2000 sec
manual exposure

[Aidan Briggs]

Hey Gareth, welcome to BPN! The low angle, unique pose, and inclusion of the rock are all pluses here. The bird is nice and sharp. The blown highlights are a result of the light coming in from the left side, rather than from behind you which would have been preferable. The low opacity clone stamp trick is definitely a good one for smaller areas, I use it every now and then. I am generally not a fan of squarish crops, but I think this one might look better if you cropped out the green line at the top.

I'm looking forward to more!

[Alan Lillich]

Nice composition. I like the head right between the ankles. The rock is nice next to the three vertical lines of the bird. I kind of like the green shore in the distance, at least when I hold a paper over it I think the composition suffers. Did you try cropping the bottom just below the rock's reflection? I think that adds attention to the bird and rock, the bird's reflection is too fuzzy to be a main element. With the far shore I also wonder how it would look as a horizontal. Did you happen to shot one that way? One of my photo teachers likes to say that the best time to shoot a horizontal is just after a vertical - meaning try both and decide later.

[gareth thomson]

Hi - thanks for the comments. Appreciate it. I just experimented w/ the ideas you both have suggested. I tried cropping the top to remove the green line, and went back. Something about the horizontal line w/ the vertical line of the bird... Tried the horizontal crop, cutting just below the reflection of the rock as you suggested Alan, and have to admit, it looks better than I would have thought. I did not try that before I posted for two reasons: (1) I'm a sucker for reflections/symmetry and (2) I would have thought the reflection of only part of the bird would look weird. What's really weird is that it doesn't look weird. Why is that? Thanks again for taking the time to comment. gt

[Alan Lillich]

I had to learn about cutting reflections from others here also. I can't say why, but it does seem true that cutting fuzzy reflections is almost always OK, and even cutting sharp ones can be too. The main thing seems to be deciding if the reflection is truly important.

[arash_hazeghi]

welcome to BPN. I like how you composed this image but the green band in the BG is distracting and it doesn't add much. the other issue is the harsh light coming from the side. would be ideal to put the sun behind you.
Avocet is morphing into full winter coat here.

welcome and TFS, looking forward to more.

[Karl Egressy]

Nice composition, Gareth. I agree with Arash, about the strip at the top. It would be easy to clone it out.

[Sanjeevprakash]

Gareth,I like this as is.I find that given the challenges at hand you did extremely well in composing this shot.The stone is not a distraction IMO.This shot is well exposed given the harsh light.All in all well done.

[Juan Carlos Vindas]

Welcome on board!
You have received very good advise already. Please keep them coming. Looking forward to see more of your pictures.

[Daniel Cadieux]

Welcome to BPN Gareth!! Neat subject, and you got it in a nice scene. I like the feeder posture. I actually like the green band, but in a twist to other suggestions I'd crop to have the top edge anchored by that green band (crop away the extra blue). Lots of options as you can see, and pretty much all subjective so you gotta go with what feels right for you. Light angle is something to watch out for in the field but sometimes you are limited by barriers( such as a lake:S3:) to walk around but often times you get better light angle at different time of day. All part of the fun you are discovering with bird photography...

Looking forward to more from you!

[gareth thomson]

Thanks to everyone. Your comments will change the way I crop photos. In this instance I simply cropped, smiled, and posted. In future, I'll try various crops before I settle on one. I sometimes find that I have to work an image and then let it sit for a few days, and come back to it before I can really see it. I am very glad to have found this site - via a link on Artie's BirdsAsArt blog. Hope as I gain experience to provide others with useful C&C. Again, really appreciate the time you all took to make comments. Thanks - gt