common snipe

[annmpacheco]

You hear them all over Iceland as they pop up with sharp cries and also circling their territory with "drumming" sounds. Once they begin their descent, their downward swoop causes this "drumming" sound as the wind vibrates their outer tail feathers. They are difficult to see on the ground as they are secretive and shy. Early this morning, my luck changed as this sleepy snipe stayed long enough for this image. The background is a field of yellow buttercups.

1-Dx
600mmII
1.4 tc

iso 800
f 7.1
1/800

[Randy Stout]

I like the pose, head angle that shows off the impressively long bill, drop on the end, soft light .

I might consider cropping from the right a bit, and a sliver off the top as well.

Cheers

Randy

[William Dickson]

Very nice Ann and pleasing to the eye. Lovely pose, and detail on the bird. The BG colours show it real well. Yes to a wee bit off the RHS.

Will

[John Mack]

Nice pose, nice bird, good background. Just wish the bird wasn't so centered in the frame.

[Bill Dix]

Great pose, lovely light and background. Ditto above re comp. That drumming sound that follows you all over Iceland becomes almost eerie at times.

[Alex Becker]

Nice one -- great BG, HA, catchlight, and details. I also agree with the crop suggestions above. Thanks for sharing as well as the info about their drumming -- sounds pretty cool.

[Arthur Morris]

Loverly bird and BKGR. Pulling the curve down on the whole thing might be a good idea as it all looks very bright to me. Best would have been to have had the bird well to the right in the original with it looking to our left ... You had lots of AF points available with your set-up.

with love, artie

[Daniel Cadieux]

I too find the image rather bright, especially the highlights and brighter midtones. Good comp suggestions above as well. Sweet background, and I like the pose an great view of the feet.