Purple Sandpiper

[Colin Gilyeat]

This is my first post in this forum. I've been posting in the the ETL forum. The is my first post from last weekends IPT at Barnegat with Artie and Denise. Since Rachel has already posted a couple of Harlequin Ducks, here's a Purple Sandpiper.

123820

Nikon D7000
Sigma 150-500 @450mm, handheld
ISO 800
1/800
f/6.3
-2/3EV

PP in LR 4, curves adjustment , sharpend, slight crop on the left and bottom to remove a white spot on the rock, cloned an OOF rock out of the upper left corner.

Comments and Criticisms are welcome.

Thanks,
Colin

[Arthur Morris]

Sharp with a good exposure. Getting an inch or two lower would have avoided the merge of the bill tip with the seaweed. A nice first winter bird. Thanks for driving up from DC and joining us.

[PhilCook]

Like the inclusion of the greenery on the rock and water flow over it, some nice detail showing, only wishing for more ey7e contact with the camera

[vishaljadhav]

Welcome to the forum , nice starter for sure
the green adds a lot to the image,
Keep them coming

[Miguel Palaviccini]

Colin,

Great first post! Sharp throughout, and the greenery definitely adds to the image. I agree with Artie about the bill and bg, just a tad lower would have solved that.

Looking forward to seeing more!

Miguel

[Jonathan Ashton]

A fine shot I like the setting, I would consider brightening the eye just a little. Not too sure why you underexposed by 2/3 unless the seaweed affected your metering greatly.

[Stu Bowie]

Hi Colin, welcome to the avian forum, and hope you learn and share your work. You have exposed this nicely, even though you shot with a - EC. When viewing your subject before pressing the shutter, moving around a bit to chose your best BG through your viewfinder helps a lot in producing a better image. I may have had a long day, but I feel the head is a touch softer than the wing.

[Rachel Hollander]

Hi Colin - glad you made the leap to post on Avian. Nicely captured and good suggestions for improving it in the field next time. I might burn the whites of the wave in the bg a tad just so it doesn't distract.

TFS,
Rachel

[Colin Gilyeat]

Thanks to everyone for the comments. Spending the day on Sunday with Artie and Denise was a real pleasure as well as a great learning experience. I agree about the bill touching the seaweed. Rachel, I was focused on getting rid of the distracting rock in the upper left that I missed the BG. Now that I look at it, the lower right really could use a little dodging, and nice meeting and shooting with you on Sunday.

Colin

[Faraaz Abdool]

Great shot Colin, the only thing I'm seeing here is the eye - looks a bit dark. That seaweed covered rock is a lovely setting. I also agree with Rachel about the bright bg - although I know how difficult it was with these guys always being in the shade!