Red-necked Phalarope

[gail bisson]

Iceland June 2019
Canon 1 DX 600mm v. 3
ISO 1600 F 6. @ 1/1250. Taken on a cloudy day in late afternoon (do you see a pattern here? Do not go on a birding trip with me as I guarantee rain most days!:t3). Sitting in small pond with waders on.
About 90% FF
Cloned out a white spot x 2 in water RLC. I know the tip of the bill has fallen out of DOF and how I wish I had been at F8 but I still like it.
Processed in LR CC and CS
Comments and critiques always appreciated and learned from with thanks,
Gail

[Dorian Anderson]

Highly detailed and attentive look at what is almost surely a female bird (they're more brightly colored than the males). Stuff in the BG is a well bit distracting, but the subject is isolated really well and super sharp. Exposure looks great.
Could see her moved up in the frame a bit as she's very close to the bottom edge. Iceland is high on my photo destinations list.

[Geoffrey Montagu]

Love the fully extended neck, and direct eye contact. Nice sharp detail, and exceptional light. Like the ripples in the water as well.


Geoffrey




http://500px.com/geoffreymontagu (http://500px.com/geoffreymontagu)

[Aditya Sridhar]

Lovely shot, Gail. I agree with Dorian's critique on all counts. The concentric ripples are very pleasing and so are the colors. I don't mind the shallow DOF - I think it helped you in this case, actually. If you were at f/8, the background would've been even more distracting. It's always a trade-off, but I think you've done as well as you could've in this situation :bg3:

[dankearl]

They were my second fav bird in Iceland next to Puffins of course..
Outstanding in your face large view! I would use the healing brush tool to smooth the BG a bit.
Easy.

[Randy Stout]

Gail:

The soft light really shows off this bird well. Nice pose, and although the bill tip is a bit out of focus, because of the dark area behind it, not as noticeable. I tried a version with reduced contrast painted onto the upper background with a very soft brush, and thought it was nice. I respect your feelings about image manipulation, but just something to consider for an image not entered in a contest.

Randy

[gail bisson]

Great advice Randy and Dan. Here is a repost with contrast reduced in upper BG.
Dorian and Aditya- I do not have any more room at the bottom.

[Bill Dix]

Love the upright pose and the colorful bird against the dark bg. Repost helps. I might still be tempted to use a low opacity color brush to tame the vertical streak to the left of the bird. Was this on Flatey, where Geoffrey and I had some very cooperative Phalaropes during our last trip?

[Alex Becker]

I love these birds. I really want to photograph one. This is a great look. I love the low angle, the ripple, and the color palette are all great. I'm ok with BG in the OP, but the RP is nice too. The only bit that really bugs me is, as Bill mentioned, the streak on the left. Details are nice on the bird as well. TFS

[John Mack]

Looks great all around to me. The only thing i can think is some more room below.