Pectoral Sandpiper

[Isaac Grant]

Sticking with my shorebirds and wishing for warmer weather and their return. I am going to make a special effort to try and get as many of the returning shorebirds in full breeding plumage this spring as I can. This Pectoral Sandpiper was photographed on the East Pond of Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge while lying in the mud with Artie.We had tame birds and perfect light. This is full frame. Only cloned out a few distracting white blobs.

Canon 1dx and Canon 500 f4 ii + 1.4x iii. ISO 800, F8, SS 1/3200

I am curious if some will see any banding on this. It is not on the full res file, nor on my resized file. But after I uploaded it here I can see some on the preview screen in the blue area above the bird. Must be something to do with compression or something. I am really not sure.

[Alex Becker]

Really nice Isaac, I love the sweet low POV the nice light and some great details. The multi toned BG is cool and I can see some posterization in the blues above the bird, specifically to the right above the head. Love the catchlight. TFS

[annmpacheco]

Hello Isaac, lovely capture here with warm rich tones throughout, striking breeding plumage, HA is wonderful, and sharp details. Yes sorry there is banding/posterization in the BG, nothing at all in the foreground though, this i see on my 5K monitor... This continues to be a mystery, however, it does not distract me from a superb image, well done indeed.

[gail bisson]

Hi Isaac,
I do see a bit of posterization but much less than the last image.What is interesting is that I do not see posterization where Alex see sit. I see it above the bird and to wards LUC. I am on an Apple 21.5.
But we really are pixel peeping here. Beautiful light and POV.
I like the alert pose and great HA.
Good luck with your spring photography goal!
Gail

[John Whaley]

Beautiful light and colors on the water and in the bg. High IQ with fine feather detail and I like the alert pose. Looks good on my 4k 27".

[Jonathan Ashton]

I like the image very much you have captured good detail. To my eye the darkest areas are a little too dense (they are clipped when I checked in PS), perhaps lifting the darks and or reducing contrast a little would help (was this DPP?)

[Isaac Grant]

Yes Jon I only use DPP. I agree that the blacks are a little clipped. I was going to lift them but decided against it. These fresh juvenile birds have extreme colors with very black coloring on the mantle, scaps, coverts and primaries. That combined with their strong rufous tones makes them looked quite scaled. Certainly lifting those areas would be fine as well. For all of our benefit, how do you go about doing that in these situations?

[Stu Bowie]

Hi Isaac, another low shooting angle to bring out the best vantage point at this fellow. I like the light and IQ, and overall nice and sharp. I could see a version with a touch taken off the bottom. Im seeing ever so little posterization in the blue area above the birds head, but I have to strain to see it.

[Jonathan Ashton]

Yes Jon I only use DPP. I agree that the blacks are a little clipped. I was going to lift them but decided against it. These fresh juvenile birds have extreme colors with very black coloring on the mantle, scaps, coverts and primaries. That combined with their strong rufous tones makes them looked quite scaled. Certainly lifting those areas would be fine as well. For all of our benefit, how do you go about doing that in these situations?

Hi Isaac I have thrown my teddy out of the pram regarding DPP but going from memory I would go to curves and lift the blacks by typing in 5 in the output, similarly I often lowered the highlights by a similar amount to ensure no clipping. I also use TK luminosity masks which are infinitely adjustable according to luminosity an/or colour.

[William Dickson]

Looking good Isaac. Fabulous pose and HA. Great POV. I also see the posterisation especially on the left above the tail. I would lower the contrast and/or slightly less sharpening, on the bird, and some more sharpening on the legs, especially the leg nearest the front of the bird. The bird does look a wee bit over sharpened, but could be my monitor.

Will

[David Salem]

Man, your shorebird images at the 1920 pix size are just stunning!! Like I said before, In your face!! Not sure what anyone else is seeing, but besides the banding, that really can't be helped, this one is stupid sharp on my 5K monitor!! Cant imagine what the master TIFF looks like:Whoa!: Great pose and colors too. Well done