Sanderling

[Jonathan Ashton]

Canon 50D, Canon 500mm +1.4TC1, ISO 250 +0.66, 1/1000sec f6.3
I found this old file going back to 2009, I am hoping it will prove a lucky omen for me because there is a very high tide tomorrow and with any luck it won't be raining!
All C&C welcome,

[Stu Bowie]

Hi Jon, lovely soft light and you have nailed the detail on the sanderling. Is that a food item tucked away at the back of his bill.

[Richard Unsworth]

Hi Jon

POV spot on, food in beak and detail in whites all conspire to make a lovely frame
great shot as usual

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi Jon, always worth revisiting previously good files, as both your PP skills & technology can often allow you to extract a lot more and do justice to your original capture.

The low POV is nice, however I feel the whole image is way light, dropping the exp to almost -1.00 and then adjusting the shadows, whites & blacks, obviously masking things like the bill, eye and legs really brings a lot more out of the capture and that lovely plumage. it also adds some more depth IMHO. Like the crop and great to have the bill open with some food.

TFS
Steve

[keith mitchell]

Jonathan the bird looks nice but to me it does lack some detail and body apart from the legs and bill which look very good, Steve as made some good suggestions .
They do take some catching up with so good luck for tomorrow hope it stays fine.

Keith.:S3:

[John Robinson]

Chased these around a time or two Jon. A simple drop in gamma to about 60 makes all the difference in my humble opinion.
JR

[Jonathan Ashton]

Thanks for the comments, I must admit I was a slave to the histogram in ACR, I thought it looked fine, here is a repost taking into consideration your comments - better??

[Joe Senzatimore]

Repost looks real good. Fine low angle and good exposure.

[John Robinson]

That,ll do for me Jon
JR

[Jamie Douglas]

Repost brings this up to where it should be Jonathan, in my opinion.

Maybe a slight increase in the super mid tones might take it further? Is there a pink cast or is that the neutral light effect?

Jamie

[MohsenVahedipour]

The repost looks better. Excellent light & shooting angle.

[christopher galeski]

nice image Jon,repost is the one,good low angle,nice pose,is it food ,or is it casting a pellet like a lot of birds do.TFS.

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi Jonathan, the RP is certainly better, but personally I feel you can still get some more depth from within the subject, but your call. :w3

Hope you are successful today in getting out and about and capturing some more images.

[shane shacaluga]

I agree with the above that the RP looks better. Looks sharper around the eye too.

Nice low angle and good details on the subject. Lovely light

TFS

[Jonathan Ashton]

Thanks very much everyone, regards the thing in the bill - I don't know but Christopher suggests a pellet - this sounds good to me!
Shane - you are sharp! there is a little more sharpening, I have been looking at other websites for raw conversion and I increased the raw sharpening.

[shane shacaluga]

hahaha after being told in a number of my past posts, that my subjects were soft, I am now obsessed with sharpening :D

[Satish Ranadive]

Jonathan,
Excellent image. Superb exposure in soft lights, nice details, low shooting angle and composition.

Regards,
Satish.

[Girish Prahalad]

lovely low angle & pose. IQ & exp looks great. i prefer the repost in terms of colors

[Randy Stout]

Jon:

The repost is much better to my eyes, and I do think there is room for a bit more tweaking of luminosity to max. the potential.

You might want to revisit your cloning work on the green in the left lower corner. Looks a bit smudged.

SHooting angle, pose, very nice.

Cheers

Randy

[Steve Kaluski]

The repost is much better to my eyes, and I do think there is room for a bit more tweaking of luminosity to max. the potential.

Yep, that's where I was going Randy, just need to balance the areas, as some need more than others, although I do like the RP shoreline.

[Jonathan Ashton]

Thanks guys I will have another look, Randy the smudging was careless - I made a rather rapid repost!

[Shawn Zierman]

The subject animation is excellent! I enjoy the low shooting angle, body and head angle are top shelf, exposure and the tones in either image work for me.

[Karl Egressy]

Beautiful image, love everything about it, Jon.

[Arthur Morris]

Yes, caught in the act of swallowing a prey item. I prefer the original post or something in between. My main problem is the large dark area by the base of the bird's bill. It would not be too difficult to eliminate that if it fits with your personal ethics.