Black bellied plover stepping out

[Grace Scalzo]

Ted and I are having way too much fun this holiday weekend with shorebirds that are passing us on their way north. Thanks for looking and as always, your comments are greatly appreciated.

1/1600, f6.3, ISO400
1Dmk2n, 500 + 1.4tc groundpod/fob

[Doug Brown]

Beautiful job Grace! Great details in the whites and blacks. Love the composition and the stride. Eye contact is good. Sharpness is excellent. I would suggest that you rework the foreground a little, because it looks a little processed. Thanks for sharing this nice photo!

[Steve Maxson]

Love the striding pose. Nice low angle, good sharpness, good detail in blacks and whites, and clean background. Very well done. You might consider removing some of the specular highlights from the legs.

[Arthur Morris]

Stunningly sharp and lovely. Lots of good points above. I love the detail in the feathers on the sides of the breast.

[Roman Kurywczak]

Hi Grace,
You nailed a tough exposure on this one......I would have preferred a slightly higher angle to clear the FG blurry stuff.........but I'm usually in the minority on that. Keep having fun and keep up the great posts!

[Grace Scalzo]

Thanks to everyone. FYI, no processing was done to the foreground. But the mud flat was not flat and there was the tiniest little rise between me and him. (ANd unlike Blake, I do not have the strength to lift the 500 and shoot from this position. ) Will do on the legs. As for the exposure, I have Artie to thank for teaching me to expose to the right. Whites are on the edge, but the blacks got the detail that I've always lacked.

[Juan Aragonés]

Neat image Grace, love the low angle and the front light. The exposure is excelent and the sharpness terrific. The raised leg adds a lot of action to the image. Well done

[Arthur Morris]

As for the exposure, I have Artie to thank for teaching me to expose to the right. Whites are on the edge, but the blacks got the detail that I've always lacked.

Thanks Grace :) It was Michael Reichmann who first told the world about exposing to the right while most folks were then saying "Underexpose and lighten it later in Photoshop." This is actually horrific advice as it introduces noise and reduces the amount of info in your image file.

[Gyorgy Szimuly]

Wonderful image. What a perfect breeding plumage waling by :)
Jan, photographed a nice male in Texas a couple of weeks ago but this plumage could be even better. :)

Szimi

[Blake Shadle]

Beautiful work, Grace! I can only lift the 500 on my stomach for so long and I pay for it the next morning ;) I love the exposure and composition of the image and there's incredible detail throughout. Oh did I mention I love the perspective?? A new favorite of mine from your work.

[Steve Canuel]

Very nice Grace. As mentioned, great detail in both blacks and whites. FG does look funky but I really like how the slightly visible water slowly merges with the BG.
Steve