Black-tailed Godwit in flight

[gail bisson]

canon1DX
600mm and 1.4 x
ISO 1600 SS 1/1250 F 5.6
Taken in Iceland on a gray, miserable, misty day.
These birds are everywhere in Iceland but it was so hard to get a good shot of them. They are always in long grasses so to get a clear shot of them is difficult
and the white on the rump and wings are so easy to blow if the sun is shining.
PP :crop to ~ 50% FF, NR to BG, levels, DE to bird only and USM to JPEG. Nothing added or cloned.
Comments and critiques always appreciated and learned from with thanks,
Gail

[Bill Dix]

Great flight shot, Gail. Well exposed and with a gorgeous background. The only shots I got of these lovely birds were when they were half-hidden in tall grasses, as you note. The gray, miserable day was a blessing here.

ps, I think it's a Black-tailed Godwit.

[gail bisson]

You are correct Bill! It is a black-tailed godwit. Mods please fix my title please!
I also see some pixellation in the BG which can occur with saving as JPEG. The TIFF looks fine though,
Gail

Great flight shot, Gail. Well exposed and with a gorgeous background. The only shots I got of these lovely birds were when they were half-hidden in tall grasses, as you note. The gray, miserable day was a blessing here.

ps, I think it's a Black-tailed Godwit.

[Daniel Cadieux]

I love the light filtering through the feathers. Good pose, and the dark BG does work well to make the godwit pop against it.

Title changed:w3

[annmpacheco]

Hi Gail, flight pose is classic and feather definition on the wings is super. I also like the dark green and purple BG, along with the overlapped toes on this godwit. They sure are gorgeous looking birds, and the fanned tail is also a big thumbs up! well done.

[Geoffrey Montagu]

Wonderful flight image, Gail. Like the quality of light given your description of the weather. Great BG giving nice pop to the Godwit. Love every anatomical part is at full stretch.

Geoffrey

[William Dickson]

Love this one Gail. The BG colours are awesome. Beautiful feather detail and a lovely flight pose captured. Well done.

Will

[Glenn Conlan]

Very nice, lovely wing position and BG

[David Salem]

What a great looking subject and you did a fantastic job capturing him. The pose with the nice head angle and fanned tail really shows him off well. The clean feather details and nice background color make for a beautiful frame.
Nice in-flight Gail

[arash_hazeghi]

very nice banking pose with a great BG and sharp details. I might warmen the image a bit
TFS

[Tim Foltz]

Very nice Gail, sweet bg, nice and sharp, good wing position, but I would like to see a little bit closer crop, the bird looks a little lost in the frame.

-Tim

[Jonathan Ashton]

I like the image as presented, lovely pose and colours, the contrast between the bird and the background is super. I am guessing that there was some heather in the background?

[Frank Schauf]

Excellent incoming pose and sharp details.