American Oystercatcher portrait

[John Chardine]

I see Gail just posted a beautiful image of this species- must get over there and comment (This also happens to be a Fort Desoto bird!). With the angle of the bird and the DoF at f5.6 the bird's legs were OOF, so one solution was to crop for a tight portrait.

Other than the crop, just some sharpening was all that was done.

You've got to love a bird like this!

Date: 26 February, 2013, Time: 0858h
Camera: Canon EOS-1D Mark IV
Lens: EF500mm f/4L IS II USM, @ 500 mm
Program: Manual
ISO 800, 1/400s, f/5.6

[Miguel Palaviccini]

John,

A very nice portrait with great detail. Spot on with the focus - a must when at close range.

i'd be interested to see what this shot looks like with the legs, although you cropped at a very appropriate location.

Miguel

[Melissa Groo]

Nice close portrait and I like the way you cropped it, John. Wondering why you didn't close down a bit to get tip of beak in focus. But I still like it as is. Does the splotchy thing in the eye mean it's a female?

[Nick Palmieri]

Nice in-your-face shot. I like the bit of selective focus and the composition and crop. Exposure looks good. One of my favorite birds.

[John Chardine]

Thanks everyone. I will do more research on this but so far I can find a study on Black Oystercatchers showing that males have slight or no flecks and females have full eye flecks. This predicted correct sex 94% of the time so not perfect but pretty good. I would call the above a "slight" fleck which suggests it's a male. However, I am not aware of this being shown for American Oystercatchers, although it is highly likely.

Melissa- This is always a dilemma for me- close down, lose light and attempt to get the whole bill in focus, or focus on the eye, set the aperture according to what you need, and get what you get. In theory there should be an optimal focus point forward of the eye a little, which could allow the depth of field to cover the eye and whole bill, if you have enough of it. But all this depends on so many variables- distance from subject, size of subject, angle of bill to sensor etc, etc. Perhaps in defence of soft-focus at the bill tip, the bill here is a leading line- your eye picks it up and runs up to the face and eye. With the bill tip being soft, your eye skips over this pretty quickly and gets to the meat of the image. Anyway, that's my story and I'm sticking to it!!!!!!!!!!

[Jim Crosswell]

I like the exposure, details, composition and sharp where it needs to be. Well done John!

[Frank Schauf]

Beautiful portrait, great details and eye contact.

[Jonathan Ashton]

Absolutely superb John, love the tight crop and the DOF is ideal. Excellent detail and I particularly like the exposure.

[gail bisson]

This is really nice John. I like the grains of sand on the feathers and think you chose a good crop.
I wonder if it is the same OC as mine?
Gail

[christopher galeski]

very nice portrait,sharp were it matters,good detail.

[Joe Murphy]

Really nice portrait John, spot on focus & detail.

[Grace Scalzo]

I love this, John. My attention goes right to the bird's eye then wanders around the frame. It's very stylized with that narrow depth of field and I personally think that it should hold a prominent place in your portfolio.

[vishaljadhav]

Wonderfully presented

[Stu Bowie]

Hi John, your exposure rocks on your OC too ( just commented on Gail's ) Crop works for me, and interesting reading about the sexes and eyes.

[Daniel Cadieux]

Awesome in-your-face crop you chose...I'm digging it big time! Techs are perfect, and I'm OK with the dof (the eye and face are tack sharp anyhow). The grains of sand add some dimension and backstory to the image.

[John Chardine]

Thanks everyone!

Here's the more or less full image.

[Melissa Groo]

Thanks everyone. I will do more research on this but so far I can find a study on Black Oystercatchers showing that males have slight or no flecks and females have full eye flecks. This predicted correct sex 94% of the time so not perfect but pretty good. I would call the above a "slight" fleck which suggests it's a male. However, I am not aware of this being shown for American Oystercatchers, although it is highly likely.

Melissa- This is always a dilemma for me- close down, lose light and attempt to get the whole bill in focus, or focus on the eye, set the aperture according to what you need, and get what you get. In theory there should be an optimal focus point forward of the eye a little, which could allow the depth of field to cover the eye and whole bill, if you have enough of it. But all this depends on so many variables- distance from subject, size of subject, angle of bill to sensor etc, etc. Perhaps in defence of soft-focus at the bill tip, the bill here is a leading line- your eye picks it up and runs up to the face and eye. With the bill tip being soft, your eye skips over this pretty quickly and gets to the meat of the image. Anyway, that's my story and I'm sticking to it!!!!!!!!!!
You make an excellent point here, John. I see what you mean now, and it does seem to make sense. Esp because of where the eye is, you are drawn to that immediately and don't even notice the tip of the bill as it is so riveting. And thanks for the info on the eyes too. I think that's true of AOs as well, just looked it up.

[Marina Scarr]

I prefer the OP, John, b/c it's a unique perspective and gave me pause for thought. I love all the details in those blacks and the focus on the eye. This looks like a male to me.